Within 24 hours of approving the summary for dismissing the city administrator and appointing the district coordination officer (DCO) in his place, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah on Tuesday announced that Fazlur Rehman will continue on his position as the city administrator and also directed Sindh chief secretary to modify any notification issued in this regard, in order to allow Rehman to work as the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) administrator, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The instructions were issued by the chief minister while presiding over a meeting of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) officials at the Chief Minister’s House on Tuesday.
The meeting was attended by Sindh Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani, Sindh Chief Secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas, Local Government Secretary Ali Ahmed Lund, Board of Revenue Land Utilisation Member Ghulam Mustafa Phul and Chief Controller Manzoor Qadir Kaka among others.
Taking notice of a statement appearing in newspapers regarding Karachi DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed being given the charge of city administrator, the chief minister directed Chief Secretary Abbas to modify the notification, if any, issued in this regard and that Rehman will continue to work as the CDGK Administrator.
Only a day earlier, the chief minister had approved the summary to appoint Karachi DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed as the city administrator, after the Sindh chief secretary objected to the dual system of administration in the city.
Well-placed sources told Pakistan Today that the chief secretary was against the appointment of administrator only for Karachi, as in all other provincial districts, the DCOs were performing as administrators.
According to an official statement, it was decided at the meeting that a 42-storey tower costing Rs 400 million will be constructed on international standards in Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
The expenditure will be borne by the SBCA while the Sindh Local Government Department would supervise the project.