KARACHI – The City District Government Karachi (CDGK), currently facing such an acute shortage of funds that it cannot even remunerate its staff, has issued notices to the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as well as several private groups, asking them to clear their dues that run in millions, or face arrest and confiscation of assets. Sources told Pakistan Today that the move is part of the CDGK strategy to initiate a result-oriented campaign for the recovery of outstanding dues from defaulters who had purchased land from the city government over the past eight years.
Much of this land had been auctioned by the CDGK to stakeholders, but payments of over Rs 752.56 million are still outstanding. The major defaulters, sources said, were not ordinary citizens but government institutions including the SSGC, TDAP, and PIA. Sources claimed that the SSGC has not paid Rs 23.457 million in dues that it owed against plot ST-4/B, Sector 14 of KDA Scheme 24, measuring 23,895 square yards. Similarly, TDAP is supposed to clear dues of Rs 251.934 million against plot ST-1, Sector 15, Scheme 24. PIA has also not cleared dues of Rs 36.457 million against the government’s auctioned plot, ST-11, Sector 16 of Scheme 36, which is spread over 47,767 squire yards for many years.
Beside government organizations, private companies including Pakistan Machine Tool Factory (PMTF), Indus Dying and Manufacturing (IDM) and other groups such as Mohan Lal & Others owed around Rs 6.977 million, Rs 5.256 million and Rs 229.567 million respectively to the CDGK against various plots they bought from the government, sources said. PMTF was not clearing its dues for three plots, F-17, F-41 and F-42, that measure 56,192.4 square yards, 77,488.4 square yards, and 49,126 square yards respectively in Sector 3 of Scheme LIA. IDM has plots 3 and 7, spread over an area of 60,694 square yards in Korangi Sector 25. Mohan Lal & Others was also not clearing dues it owed against 29 plots of different sizes in various sector of Korangi (under Scheme 41 of KDA).
Beside the major defaulters, hundreds of individuals collectively owed around Rs 198.91 million to the government are also being issued notices by the CDGK. Sources said that the CDGK would enforce the Land Revenue Act for this purpose: defaulters can be arrested if they fail to respond and clear their dues, while their moveable and/or immoveable properties can be confiscated in favour of the CDGK.
Ailing CDGK wants SSGC, PIA, TDAP to clear over Rs 752.56 million dues
