Garbage strewn on a road in F-6 by protesting sanitation workers. — White Star
“As the MCI stopped releasing funds, we have cleared the payment of contractors many times. Even on Friday, we released Rs30m to the MCI to mitigate the problems facing residents, but the MCI transferred the funds to some large contractors rather than ensuring that the salaries of sanitary workers would be cleared,” the CDA official said.
He said the MCI should either address the issues of the sanitation department or hand it over to the CDA.
“The MCI has around Rs2 billion in its accounts, but it is not using the money to pay the salaries of sanitary workers,” he said.
The MCI has Rs1.25bn in its accounts, Mayor Aziz told Dawn, but cannot use these funds unless its rules and regulations are approved.
The payments from the 2018-19 period were made at a time when the mayor was also heading the CDA, which meant that such transactions could be carried out even though the MCI’s rules had not been addressed.
“The PTI government has kept all the lucrative departments with the CDA and departments that had become liabilities were handed over to the MCI. Now the PTI has realised that public services can only be ensured through the sanitation department, so hurdles are being created in my way,” Mayor Aziz alleged.
To a question, he responded that around Rs70m are needed to clear the dues of sanitation workers, as they have not been paid for more than three months.
Smart streetlights to be installed in I-14
The CDA has approved Rs17m for the installation of ‘smart’ LED streetlights in I-14.
According to a statement, these lights will conserve energy while providing better lighting. The provision of streetlights in I-14 has been a longstanding demand of the sector’s residents, but the provision of basic amenities was ignored in the development of the sector in the past, it said.
The CDA has devised a strategy to take up stalled sectors so development work can be initiated. PC-Is and PC-IIs for various stalled sectors were prepared and approved by the CDA Development Working Party in this regard.
The statement said I-14 was among the sectors where residual development work was stalled for years, but the incumbent management has approved the PC-II for development activities and completed repairs on the main access road of the sector.
Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2019