KARACHI, May 8: A meeting of the newly formed board of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board held here on Thursday with Sindh Minister for Local Government Agha Siraj Durrani in the chair was told that an inquiry committee had been set up to review all ‘illegal’ appointments made in the KWSB during the caretaker setup.

This was the first meeting of the board which the Sindh government had reconstituted on April 24, replacing City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal with Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani as chairman of the KWSB. The same day the provincial government had also reconstituted the Karachi Building Control Authority and in this case, too, the local government minister was declared as an authority in place of the city nazim.

The Sindh government move, however, prompted the issuance of counter notifications by the city nazim, whereby both the KWSB and the KBCA were declared as the water and sanitation and building control group of offices, respectively, of the CDGK and the titles of their heads were re-designated as executive district officers of their respective group of offices.

However, the acrimony between the Sindh and city governments following the issuance of the notifications seems to be fading away after the joining of the PPP-led government by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, as the local government minister told Dawn shortly after the board’s meeting that all issues would be resolved amicably with consultation with the city nazim.

Answering a question, he said the city nazim, who is abroad now, would be attending the board’s next meeting and the issues would be resolved with mutual consultation in the interest of the city.

In response to a query pertaining to the reported deduction in the city government’s committed grants, Mr Durrani said such an action might have been taken by the federal government, and pledged that he would take up the issue with the government.

Earlier, presiding over the meeting, Mr Durrani asked the utility’s top officials to curtail its extravagant establishment expenditures and improve its working for providing better water and sewerage facilities to its consumers.

Terming the first meeting of the board as ‘an introductory one’, the minister said the KWSB’s budget for the next financial year would be given the final shape and approved by the board in consultation with City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, who is also member of the board, at its next meeting.

The participants of the meeting included the board’s vice-chairman, MPA Haji Munawwar Abbasi, the provincial additional chief secretary (development), the secretaries for local government, industries, finance, president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industries, a nominee of the Defence Housing Authority, the Military Lands executive officer, the Railways divisional superintendent of Karachi, and KWSB managing-director Ghulam Arif.

A participant of meeting said that most of the members of the board, who were highly critical of the 6,000-odd appointments made in the KWSB during the caretaker government, asked the KWSB managing director to explain that what was the justification for inducting such a huge number of employees and what would be its financial impact on the utility that was already facing a financial crisis, the latter could not give any satisfactory reply in this behalf.

Stressing the need for scrutinizing all such appointments, a number of members sought details of the appointments made during the caretaker government so that the inquiry committee could review them.

Earlier, the KWSB managing director made a presentation before the board members, apprising them about the utility’s working and its on-going and recently completed development projects.

When Ghulam Arif was asked whether he had attended the board’s meeting in his capacity as managing director of the KWSB or executive district officer of the CDGK’s water and sanitation group of offices, he parried the question, saying he did not want to become embroiled in such a controversy.

Mr Arif also told the board that Rangers had now finally decided to hand over all hydrants back to the KWSB by May 10.

The defunct board of the KWSB had last met four years back in April 2004 under the chairmanship of the then city nazim, Niamatullah Khan.When the managing-director requested that the KWSB be allowed to set up its own police station on the pattern of the KESC for enforcing legal actions against illegal hydrants, illegal water connections and water theft incidents, the minister assured him that he would help provide the home department’s legal assistance in this regard.

The minister also told KWSB officials to ensure the provision of clean water in Lyari and other congested localities of the city by improving the old water supply system on war-footings.