KARACHI, June 2: A heated debate between members of the treasury and opposition benches on the issue of unreleased funds for union councils did not allow the city council to take up the agenda of a discussion on a mass transit project on Monday.

Both sides presented their points of view forcefully and a new controversy emerged over whether funds exclusively meant for development works in union councils were discretionary or allocated.

During the disturbances, the treasury hurriedly adopted a resolution on the implementation of public utility charges.

According to the PPI news agency, the city council gave authority to the city government to collect a “public utility charges” tax of Rs70 per month on residential houses/plots/flats up to 40 to 80 square yards, Rs150 per month on 81 to 120 square yards, Rs200 on 121 to 240 square yards, Rs300 per month on 241 to 500 square yards, Rs500 per month on 501 to 1,000 square yards and Rs800 per month on houses/plots/flats above 1,000 square yards for collecting garbage from houses.

The session, which was held with senior presiding officer Ahsan Siddiqui in the chair, witnessed repeated noisy disturbances when opposition members refused to listen to a briefing on the city’s mass transit project.

When the session resumed, opposition leader Saeed Ghani of the Awam Dost Panel and Rafiq Ahmed of the Al-Khidmat Panel raised the issue of the release of UC funds on points of order, saying that the blocking of the funds had badly affected development works in several union councils.

The convener of the house tried to convince the opposition leaders that the house had already taken up the issue in their absence and debated it at length. It was recalled that in the last session the naib nazim had also given a ruling on the subject and, as such, there was no need to debate the issue any further.

He also told the members that Monday’s session was specially summoned to brief the house on the mass transit system which was described as a vital issue for the citizens.

However, the house was in uproar when the convener called the director-general of the Karachi Mass Transit System to brief the members about the project.

The opposition members ignored his statement and stood up to raise such slogans as “All this is all false”, “Restore the UC fund” and “Disband the system.”The convener tried to calm down the opposition members who were raising the slogans. Opposition member Dilwar Khan, who was joined in a chorus of slogans by other members, continued to demand that UC funds be restored.

Mr Ahsan repeatedly requested the members to maintain the decorum of the house, but his entreaties fell on deaf ears and noisy disturbances continued in the house, forcing him to suspend the proceedings for 15 minutes.

When the house reassembled, house leader Asif Siddiqui and Arshad Qureshi of the Haq Parast group submitted in the house that UC funds were announced by the city nazim by exercising his discretionary powers and that their release depended, above all, on availability of funds.

They argued that it was not mandatory on the nazim to release such funds. The treasury leaders lauded the efforts of the city nazim for the various development works being undertaken in the city, saying that mega projects were being implemented in the city without such considerations as which UCs were benefited by them.But opposition leaders countered the claims of treasury leaders, saying that funds were approved in the budget and the nazim was duty-bound to release them.

They rejected as untrue the idea propounded by the treasury that these funds were discretionary. Instead, they argued by quoting relevant rules, that these were allocated funds and it was the nazim’s bounden duty to release them. They said they could not help noticing that the theory of “discretion” was employed used six months into the debate of release of UC funds.

However, the convener ignored the arguments of the opposition and sought the views of the house on the presentation of of the mass transit project. After seeking the consent of majority members, the convener again called the director-general of Karachi Mass Transit Project to brief the house.

But opposition members again raised slogans in support of UC funds and other issues, drowning out the DG’s voice and preventing him from going ahead with the presentation.

Thereupon, house leader Asif Siddiqui urged the convener to defer the presentation for another day.

The session was then adjourned to June 4.