Murad urges LG to introduce reforms in local councils, make self-sufficient to pay power bills.

KARACHI -- Sindh chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the provincial government was paying electricity bills of the local bodies from last many year but our local bodies would have to be self-sufficient by rationalizing its non-development expenditures and increasing its tax collections and base.

This he said on Wednesday while presiding over a joint meeting of Energy and Finance Departments to discuss the issues of power companies claims of electricity bill outstanding against local bodies. The meeting was attended by Minister Energy Imtiaz Shaikh, Advisor Murtaza Wahab, Advocate General Salman Talib, PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro Secretary LG Roshan Shaikh, Secretary Energy Musadiq Khan, Secretary Finance Hassan Naqvi and other concerned officers.

The chief minister said that the provincial government has paid over Rs22 billion powers bills of local bodies from 2014-19. He added that from 2016 all the bills of local bodies and the provincial government were clear and the bills of the years before the privatization of KESC were disputed.

The chief minister constituted a committee comprising Minister Energy Imtiaz Shaikh, Minister Local Government Nasir Shah, Secretary Local Government Roshan Shaikh and Secretary Finance to prepare a plan so that onward local councils could pay their power bills. 'How long the provincial government would be paying the bills of the local councils,' he questioned.

In the meeting it was pointed out that there were some local councils which were over staffed and some others were under staffed and some were paying their salaries timely and some were releasing salaries in piecemeals. 'This is not fair and must be rationalized,'...

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