HYDERABAD, April 17: The adviser to the Sindh chief minister on local bodies and spatial development, Waseem Akhtar, has said creation of new districts in Hyderabad will not affect utilization of Rs10.5 billion of the Hyderabad Development Package. He said the Sindh government would ensure that the package was implemented in the new districts as per their requirement and share on the basis of population.

He was talking to this correspondent during the marriage ceremony of the niece of Pakistan Muslim League-F MPA Dr Irfan Gul Magsi at his residence in Civil Lines on Saturday night.

“In no way the package’s implementation will be affected and no body should assume that the package was Hyderabad city-specific”, said the adviser when asked what would be the formula for utilization of funds under the package after division of the district.

“The new districts – Matiari, Tando Allahyar and Tando Mohammad Khan – will be duly covered under the package in terms of development”, said Mr Akhtar, who is a member of the project’s working committee formed by the Sindh government to oversee implementation of the plan. He said infrastructure of the new districts would be developed gradually.

The adviser claimed progress on the project implementation and said the Sindh government had also allocated Rs1 billion in the current fiscal year’s budget for the package. He said a consultant had been appointed for the project.

“Required budgets will be allocated to the new districts and DCOs, besides other officials, will be posted there”, he said, adding that it would, however, take some time.

He observed that creation of the new districts would resolve problems of people relating to departments of revenue, police, courts and civil administration.

“According to my information, around 26,000 cases of different nature are pending in Hyderabad’s sessions courts which will be shifted to respective new districts”, he said. He said this would help people facing cases and their families who had to travel between Hyderabad and other areas for hearings of their cases. Not only this, he added, but job opportunities would also increase.

He further said the small administrative units would be easily handled by the government and respective civil administrations and district governments would be able to run their affairs in a smooth manner without subjecting people to hassle.

Regarding formation of a city district government in Hyderabad, the adviser said: “Of course the city government will be the next move of the government because the Hyderabad city fulfils requirements of that form of government under sections 8 and 9 of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2001.

He further said the city had a population of over one million, majority of its people were associated with non-agriculture sector and its existing civic infrastructure had all but collapsed.

He said had the existing civic facilities been catering to people’s needs, funds would have not been given under the governor’s or the president’s package.

The adviser stated that appointment of administrators was also in the pipeline, adding that they might be appointed as soon as the election schedule was announced.

He further said the Sindh government was also planning other development works in Hyderabad.