KARACHI, Dec 15: The treasury benches in the City Council on Saturday bulldozed the Karachi Strategic Development Plan-2020, also called the master plan, through the house and approved it amid a boycott by the protesting opposition members, who demanded adequate time for debate on the vital document.
The house witnessed noisy disturbances throughout the session, which was chaired by Presiding Officer Ahsan Ahmed Siddiqui, who ruled out all the objections raised by the opposition members.
At the outset of the proceedings, Haq Parast panel leader Asif Siddiqui took the floor on a point of order and attacked the opposition for “hatching conspiracies against the local body system” and also alleged that the opposition was raising “unnecessary hue and cry over the master plan document”.
The Haq Parast leader said that ever since the master plan was tabled in the house for discussion, five sessions were held and every member had been allowed to give his or her views on the subject.
He recalled that during the previous session the city’s Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil, as convener of the house, asked the members to submit their written proposals on the master plan by Dec 14, but he regretted to say that there was no positive response as only few members made suggestions.
Mr Siddiqui maintained that only 31 resolutions were received so far, which also included those resolutions that were submitted during previous sessions and which were being submitted for the house’s approval so that they could be referred to the master plan committee.
Mr Siddiqui’s remarks sparked noisy disturbances in the house as the opposition members pointed out to the presiding officer that the member should be stopped from making a long speech as he had raised a point of order.
Taking the floor, opposition leader Saeed Ghani argued that the opposition had never denied the importance of the development plan. Rather, it desired its unanimous passage with the consent of all members.
Mr Ghani complained that the treasury was bulldozing the plan through the house in haste thereby creating a negative impression, adding that the plan was not an ordinary document as it related to the overall and integrated development of the city. He insisted that the opposition should be given more time to study the plan as there were many issues they wanted examined by consultants.
Al-Khidmat panel leader Rafiq Ahmed also stressed the need for developing consensus among all groups of the house. He regretted that though town nazims were taken into confidence on the master plan, the union council nazims were bypassed.
Opposition member Abdul Razzak reminded the chair about a meeting held with the naib nazim in which she had assured that the present session would continue till Dec 18, after which it would be decided when the house would meet again. However, treasury member Abdul Jalil denied any date had been promised by the naib nazim in this regard.
The house witnessed recurring scenes of disorder and the presiding officer had to repeatedly ask the members to maintain the decorum of the house, yet both sides refused to listen.
Another opposition leader, Juman Darwan, described the master plan as a “conspiracy against the residents of Gadap, Keamari and Bin Qasim”, saying that several mega-projects would be launched from these peripheral towns to deprive the local people of their ancestral land.
However, the treasury’s Syed Absar-ul-Hasan countered the opposition member’s contention and defended the proposed uplift projects, saying that these would bring progress and prosperity to people in backward areas.
Opposition leaders Ramzan Awan, Sheikh Mehbubur Rehman advocate and Zahid Saeed also condemned the treasury benches for not allowing them adequate time for debate.
In the meanwhile, Haq Parast leader Asif Siddiqui and Absar-ul-Hasan, Suleiman Mujahid and Syed Khalil Ahmed urged the chair to table the resolution on the master plan for passage.
Upon this, the opposition benches made a strong protest over the “stubborn” attitude of the treasury benches and charged that the resolution was being bulldozed.
But the chair ruled out all the reservations of the opposition members, who staged a walkout from the house in protest.
Thereafter, in absence of the opposition benches the house gave its unanimous approval to the resolution on the KSDP-2020.
The house also adopted two other related resolutions, the first of which reads: “This house received 31 proposals pertaining to the KSDP-2020 from house members and referred the same to the master plan committee for further discussion. The committee would give its suitable recommendations after consultation to the council for adoption”.
The other resolution reads: “The Karachi Strategic Development Plan-2020 is the first historic document which enjoys legal status after its passage by the council. It covers all development aspects of Karachi. This council praises the efforts of City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, Naib Nazim Ms Nasreen Jalil, the EDO master plan committee and other members”.
Immediately after the passage of the resolutions, the presiding officer adjourned the session indefinitely.
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