Malik Ashraf
IT was indeed a welcome spectacle seeing the Prime Minister flanked by Governor and Chief Minister Sindh announcing the development package for Karachi amounting to Rs.1100 billion designed to resolve immediate problems of the city coming to the fore during the catastrophic rains as well as the decades-old civic issues. The financing of these projects will be shared by the federal and the Provincial Governments. To oversee the implementation of the projects related to waste disposal, mass transit, bulk water supply, drainage, sewerage, Karachi Circular Railway and Bus Rapid transit Systems, a Provincial Coordination Committee headed by the Chief Minister has also been constituted. Similar packages are also envisaged to be announced for other cities of Sindh.
The Prime Minister must be complimented for taking the initiative for making joint efforts to resolve problems and civic issues of Karachi. All these issues are a cumulative effect of the failure of the successive governments to deliver to the masses and their obsession with politics of self-aggrandizement. No government ever paid attention to check unhindered urbanization and the unplanned expansion of the cities and creation of the commensurate infrastructure. Flooding of low lying areas in Lahore and Karachi during rains is a permanent feature and I, being a regular visitor to both these cities since my childhood, cannot forget my wading through waste deep water in different parts of Karachi and Lahore. In the latter city even light rain leads to accumulation of water in the low lying localities including areas around Chauburji and Jain Mandir. During the current rainy spell similar scenes have also been witnessed in different cities of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan causing damage to infrastructure and crops. The move coming after unnecessary blame-game and politicking on the disastrous situation in Karachi is an auspicious development indeed. Pakistan at the moment is faced with daunting challenges which can only be effectively confronted through joint and collaborative efforts of the Federal and Provincial Governments. Focus on problems of Karachi, the industrial hub of the country, must get priority, however the other cities faced with similar problems also need to be taken care of. While Karachi and Lahore need master plans to resolve the issue of flooding during rains and problems related to sewerage, the administration of the smaller cities must be tasked to work on similar lines with a futuristic approach. We need to be pro-active rather than being reactive as is the case now.
All the identified problems in Karachi are actually the responsibility of the local bodies. But unfortunately all the governments except military regimes—though for promoting their own political designs— did not care to fulfil their constitutional obligation in this regard. First local government election was held in 1959 under the dictatorship of Ayub Khan. Second local government election was held in 1979 by General Zia-ul-Haq. Third local government election was held by General Musharraf in 2000. The only local body election held by an elected government was in December 2013 not because it had decided on its own to go for the fulfilment of the constitutional obligation but it was ordered by Apex Court. However, the local governments established as a result of the foregoing elections were not structured in conformity with spirit of Constitution.
Karachi during the Musharraf regime was under full control of MQM which is now a coalition partner of the federal government. Unfortunately it is a party which has a major contribution to the problems of Karachi. Its militant wing remained engaged in a turf war with the militant outfits of the political rivals PPP and ANP. Karachi instead of having its civic issues fixed witnessed emergence of culture of target killings and dead bodies in gunny bags. Ironically the same party is most vociferous in throwing the blame on PPP. My considered view is that while it is hard to take an issue with the initiative taken by the Federal and Provincial Governments of Sindh to deal with the present situation and rectifying other problems of Karachi, permanent solution lies in the establishment of local governments throughout the country without any delay making sure that they were set up in conformity with Article 140-A of the Constitution which says“ Each province shall, by law establish a local govt system and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of the local governments”
It is abundantly clear that under this Article the local administration (including policing) is supposed to be under the elected bodies besides the responsibility of providing civic amenities, carrying out development projects and having powers to generate financial resources of their own. Bringing the police under control of the local government can greatly help in eliminating the ‘Thana Culture’ and giving back their honour to the people. But that was never done. The real issue is of good governance. The successive governments have failed to deliver to the people because of the perpetuation of the archaic colonial system of governance which has in built avenues of graft and entitlement. The solution lies in two things ie establishment of the local governments in conformity with Article 140-A and changing the way we elect our representatives, with all the political forces being on-board. All the political parties must cooperate and give serious thought to the introduction of the system of proportional representation which is the only way to end the culture of graft and entitlement that afflicts our body politics.
— The writer is freelance columnist based in Islamabad.
