As part of efforts to help increase Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) revenue, the Sindh local government minister has directed the city agency to identify land in the city for setting up new filling stations, as well as revising 71 market leases. and 274 Hawkesbay huts.
Syed Nasir Hussain Shah issued this directive to KMC Administrator Laeeq Ahmed on Wednesday during the first meeting of a committee set up to explore new avenues to generate revenue for municipal municipalities, according to a statement released by the provincial government.
Shah said any expressions of interest should be snubbed by a petroleum marketing company to run a filling station to be set up by KMC. He said that the KMC and district municipalities can solve the problem of paying pension and other employee contributions by increasing their income and using their assets properly.
He also said that legal barriers should be removed to increase the rental prices of 11 existing KMC filling stations, adding that two or three markets should be selected from 71 municipal agency markets to prepare public-private partnership proposals.
“KMC has valuable assets. They need to be used properly, “said the Minister of Finance. He ordered that a survey be carried out to find the exact number of shops and other properties of the city agency.
Shah said that proposals should also be prepared to establish a mall or large shopping square with a public-private partnership on the land near the Glass Tower where the 100 quarters are located and provide alternative accommodation for its residents.
He said that no new taxes would be levied and no increases would be made to existing taxes. “The tax collection system must be made transparent and it must be ensured that all income goes to the state treasury, not anyone’s pocket.”
He directed the Senior Member of Revenue Council Qazi Shahid Pervaiz to make the transfer of property in the city conditional with a city utility fee and tax permit, so that no property can be transferred without a permit certificate issued by the KMC.
He also ordered that municipal utility charges and commercial company taxes should be outsourced in the first phase to reach 100 percent of the collection target.
The minister asked for details of the litigation against the KMC, along with the suspension period, within three days and issued a suspension order for the municipal corporation’s legal director.
He suggested hiring a reputable law firm to end the litigation as KMC incurred billions of rupees in revenue losses. He said the law firm’s fees would be borne by the provincial government.
The meeting was also attended by LG Secretary Najam Ahmed Shah, Director General of Public-Private Partnerships Khalid Khan, City Commissioner Syed M Afzal Zaidi, Senior Director KMC Masood Alam and Sindh Building Control Authority DG Shamsuddin Soomro.