KARACHI: The opposition in the Sindh Assembly on Tuesday questioned the right of the Karachi’s mayor to impose a tax on people for “using roads and bridges of the city” and called it an “anti-Karachiites move” aimed only at increasing the revenue of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC).

The treasury benches, however, favoured the move and said that the local government should generate its funds by itself instead of relying on the financial assistance from the Sindh government.

Arguments were witnessed in favour and against the KMC’s proposed move to impose toll tax on roads under its jurisdiction to create some fiscal space during the ongoing session of the Sindh Assembly for debate on budget 2024-25 from both sides of the benches.

First, it was opposition Jammat-i-Islami’s Muhammad Farooq who came up with series of questions challenging “legal and moral authority” of the Karachi mayor for proposing toll tax collection from Kara­chiites for using city roads and bridges.

Irrigation minister says restoration work on the damaged gates of Sukkur Barrage is being expedited

The City Council had last week passed the resolution for toll tax collection in collaboration with the Sindh Excise and Taxation Depar­tment from vehicles using the roads and bridges of Karachi. Though the move was passed by the house of local government elected members, modalities of the proposed tax have not been decided yet. However, it still comes under question during the Sindh Assembly debate on the provincial budget.

“How can the mayor charge tax from people for using the city roads and infrastructure,” said Mr Farooq, the only MPA of the JI in the Sindh Assembly. “You are imposing the tax on the people of the city who are deprived of basic facilities and crying for water. Is this the fate of the people of the city that they are born only to pay taxes? I appeal the government leave everything, just make water supply sure for this city. The people’s lives have become miserable,” he said.

Seasoned parliamentarian and PPP MPA Agha Siraj Durrani, without directly responding to JI member’s speech, argued in favour of revenue generation ideas of the city governments.

The former speaker of the Sindh Assembly stood up on his turn to address the house while taking part in the budget debate with permission of Speaker Awais Qadir Shah and started his speech with a claim that he had got the chance to address after ten years.

Praising the budget proposals, Mr Durrani called them “best possible estimates” which were prepared amid so many challenges. He suggested the legislators, mainly from the opposition, to study the budget in details and with care before raising objections on its proposals.

“And why should we pay funds to mayors [of the city governments]? The city government generate funds themselves,” he said.

Sukkur Barrage

Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro informed the house that restoration work of the damaged gates of Sukkur Barrage had been expedited.

In his address, he said that the repair work on the damaged gates of the Sukkur Barrage was progressing rapidly.

“Barrage’s Gate No. 44 has been fully restored, and the construction of the Kufar Dam to install Gate No. 47 is also 50 percent completed. A temporary gate will be installed within three days, followed by a permanent gate at Gate No. 47 after July 20. The Sukkur Barrage will be fully operational within eight days, and water will be released into all canals,” he added.

He informed the House that the Sukkur Barrage irrigated 7.5 million acres of land in Sindh and was a vital component of the province’s irrigation system. The minister recalled that the first issue with the barrage occurred in 1982, when a gate collapsed and it took months to repair.

“In 2018, some gates were closed, and an investigation revealed that the gates installed in 1992 had become inoperable, leading to the replacement of six gates. The contract to replace the gates was awarded to a Chinese company through an international bid supported by the World Bank,” he said.

The minister said that emergency measures had been implemented to prevent any further damage to the barrage, as any breach in June would result in significant losses. He said that Sindh government’s swift action to restore the Sukkur Barrage demonstrated its commitment to ensuring the continued supply of water to the province’s agricultural sector.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2024