KARACHI, March 4: The City Council session witnessed fireworks on Tuesday as opposition councillors, led by the Awam Dost Panel, staged a sit-in twice in the house to protest against alleged illegal appointments made in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board. They also criticised the city government for what they called recruiting Muttahida Qaumi Movement workers in the community police as traffic wardens.

The proceedings of the house were disrupted repeatedly and Nasreen Jalil, the convener, tried to calm down opposition and treasury members who traded barbs. Pandemonium broke out when Saeed Ghani, leader of the Awam Dost Panel, drew the attention of the house towards a resolution about certain appointments in the KWSB, which was passed hurriedly in the last council session in the absence of the opposition members.

Describing these appointments as illegal, Mr Ghani alleged that a proper mechanism had not been adopted in this regard. The issue of appointments in the KWSB had never been brought to the notice of councillors, he said, and accused treasury members of sidetracking the important issues and tabling them only in the absence of opposition benches.

Defending the appointments, Masood Mehmud stood up on a point of explanation and said the appointments made in the KWSB were legal and the council had every right to approve them. He said the Sindh government had put a ban on appointments, but these appointments were made purely on a contractual basis, considering the needs of the departments concerned.

He accused the opposition leader of misleading the house and twisting the facts to gain political objectives. Mr Ghani tried to counter his arguments though he was not permitted to speak by the convener.

This caused the opposition members to see red and councillors exchanged barbs. The opposition members staged a sit-in on the floor of the house protesting against what they called the partial attitude of the convener.

She repeatedly asked the members to keep the decorum of the house but in vain. Subsequently, the convener, amidst the chaos, suspended the proceedings for 10 minutes.

When the house reassembled and opposition members, including Saeed Ghani, tried to reopen the debate on the KWSB appointments, the convener intervened and said: “This topic is over now” and let the house take its normal agenda.

These remarks provoked the opposition councillors who staged another sit-in in the house and raised slogans such as “Stop plunder and loot” and “Restore UC funds”.

A complete chaos prevailed in the house when opposition leader Sheikh Mehbub charged that the MQM workers were being recruited in traffic police “in the guise of traffic wardens”.

Masood Mehmud tried to defend them, saying that these traffic wardens were volunteers who had done an excellent job by controlling the traffic in Ramazan during the last two years.

Condemning the opposition for disrupting the proceedings, treasury leader Asif Siddiqui said it was an amazing contrast that their (opposition) leaders talked much about national reconciliation but they were creating obstacles here in a democratic institution. He advised the opposition to be patient and warned that the situation would have a negative impact on the overall situation of the country as Karachi’s politics reflected the country’s politics.

Opposition councillor Abdul Razzak raised the issue of uncovered manholes in UC 2, 3, 4 and 5 in Pathan Colony and UC 6 and 7 in Frontier Colony of Site Town. A child died in an open drain recently, he said, and demanded adequate compensation for the affected family.

Earlier, Ramazan Awan of the opposition drew the convener’s attention towards the UC fund issue. He recalled that she had promised to take up the matter with the city nazim during the last session.She told the house that the nazim had promised to release the fund of the affected UCs as soon as the financial position of the city government improved. But her arguments did not convince the opposition councillors who continued to raise slogans against corruption and plunder in the city.

Resolutions

At the outset, the house unanimously adopted two resolutions condemning the publication of blasphemous cartoons in Denmark, saying that it had hurt the sentiments of Muslims all over the world and urged the government to take up the issue seriously and expel the diplomats of that country.

The council also adopted a resolution approving 3,893 jobs in the community police and a separate resolution approving new posts in Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, considering the needs of the hospital.

Besides, two resolutions pertaining to enhancement of ambulance fares in the city’s hospitals and honorarium for UC nazims were also adopted.