Observer Report
Sindh Building Control Authority Director General Shamsuddin Soomro has sent a summary to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, seeking permission for recruitment in the SBCA on contractual basis.
Soomro is not satisfied with the working of SBCA officials. In his letter to the CM, he complained of incompetent officials.
The SBCA is facing a shortage of manpower and a lack of efficiency on the part of a majority of SBCA officials appointed in the past, according to Soomro. A number of key SBCA posts are vacant due to the retirement of officials.
He said a large number of building and completion plans are pending due to the shortage of staff.
He said SBCA officials were allegedly conniving or collaborating with builders raising unauthorized buildings, floors or portions. “It is believed that as a result of impartial inquiries, a vast majority of SBCA officers and staff may be proved guilty and liable to removal from service.”
There are thousands of buildings that have violated the relevant building bylaws and there are too many sites of violation every day, Soomro said. The SBCA doesn’t have enough manpower to demolish all these buildings, he added.
It has to be vigilant of the violations of approvals, bylaws and regulations, according to the SBCA DG. But the SBCA vigilance section is short on staff.
Soomro said the SBCA was in dire need of a large number of honest and efficient engineers, architects, planners, management professionals and IT specialists from a pool of fresh graduates.
