As many as 1,800 ghost workers have been identified in education department of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and 250 others in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) who will be terminated after completion of legal formalities as hunt for more ghost workers in civic agencies of Karachi is under process. A large number of political favorites have been inducted in the civic agencies and many of them draw salaries without discharging their duties.
Karachi Administrator Saqib Ahmed Soomro said Friday that about 1,800 ghost workers had been identified in the education department of KMC. All those officials who were arrested on criminal charges will be terminated.
“The government has sanctioned Rs 150 million for repairing of out of order municipal vehicles. They will be on roads by this June. The leakage problem around FTC flyover on Sharae Faisal is being solved on permanent basis for which the work will be completed within 10 days with an estimated cost of over Rs 70 million,” he said while talking to media on the occasion of starting work of replacement of pipeline for stoppage of leakage and repairing and cleaning of sewerage drain near the FTC flyover.
The KWSB officers, metropolitan commissioner and other KMC officers were also present on the occasion. The administrator said the chief minister and the provincial minister for local government had directed to solve the problem in 10 days so that the people could be saved from trouble due to leakage of pipeline and bad condition of road.
“KMC and KWSB have jointly started work to change 805 feet long and 14 inch diameter pipeline and the cleaning and repairing of drain at Shara-e-Quaideen which will complete in next 10 days, whereas the cantonment board will arrange for the cleaning and repairing of 400 feet drain located in its remits,” he said.
To a query, he said all the officials of KMC who were arrested on criminal charges would be terminated after fulfilling the legal formalities, whereas the FIA and other organisations along KMC were inquiring the matters further.
He said more ghost employees were being identified for which final report would be compiled soon and those would be terminated after stopping their salaries. He said KMC had asked the government to provide Rs 300 million for repairing of faulty vehicles out of which sanction of Rs 150 million was made which would be used for repairing of the vehicles.
KWSB Managing Director Qutubuddin Shaikh said the water pipeline was very old which had been repaired many times, however, its leakage could not stop; therefore the whole pipeline would be changed to resolve the problem. He said a total of 250 ghost officials were identified in KWSB and their salary had been stopped.