HYDERABAD: Mayor Kashif Shoro has said the existing tariffs under various heads of property and advertisements would have to be revised to meet the financial resources of the city’s municipal corporation (HMC) for better service delivery.

He said that an application has been introduced by the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) for the disposal of slaughtered animals’ waste during Eidul Azha and this application could be used by residents for lodging complaints.

He was speaking to journalists at the mayor’s secretariat here on Saturday. The former district nazim’s secretariat has been re-designated as the mayor’s secretariat. Vice chairman Mian Sarfaraz Kalhoro, Syed Fayyaz Shah and Aftab Khanzada were also present.

The mayor said that revenue resources were being reviewed and taxes would have to be revised upwards for meeting the financial expenditures of HMC. He said that these taxes pertained to HMC’s properties, shops and markets. He explained that there was a three-tier system to collect HMC’s taxes i.e. tax department’s own collection, contractual agreements for revenue generation and offers for tax collection through auction bids. He said that he was assessing all these three formats.

Briefs media on sanitation during Eid days, arrangements for monsoon

He said that tax officials had informed him that huge billboards were not put up on open spaces but on buildings or on boundary walls where such advertisements could be pasted. He said that these types of billboard advertisement were hazardous for the general public. He said that he was holding meetings with HMC’s tax department staff in this regard and would also be preparing HMC’s budget to be presented to the council.

He stated that the transition of HMC was under way in which assets and employees’ strength for each town and HMC has to be finalised. He said that usually, this period is extended up to three/six months before the final decision after verification.

Shoro discussed Eidul Azha-related sanitaion arrangements in HMC’s limits for the disposal of offal. He said 12 points for collection of the waste had been identified in Latifabad, City and Qasimabad by HMC from where they would be taken to landfill sites. He said that chemical spray would be done at these points. He said he was coordinating with the SSWMB in this regard as well.

He said that sanitation work would be started two days before Eidul Azha and would continue till third day of the Eid. He said that complaint centres were also being set up as well. Garbage dumping vehicles, loaders and trucks would be used in the work, he added.

He said that the SSWMB would join HMC’s awareness campaign also.

He said that encroachments on roads in the shape of eateries and vending kiosks would be dealt with accordingly.

The mayor informed the media that in the case of the Benazir Bhutto flyover, some litigation was pending. The cost of this flyover had since escalated, he noted.

He said that he had spoken to the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) on arrangements regarding monsoon rains, adding that the agency wanted to procure an ‘express feeder’ for its wastewater disposal facility. He pointed out that HMC would also be cleaning drains days before commencement of monsoon season. He said that the garbage dumped into drains had to be cleared before rainfall.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2023