Citizens and officers of the Lahore Metropolitan Corporation alike are being frustrated due to the non-implementation of the corporation’s redesigned system.
The new system was due to be launched more than 2 months ago but has still not been implemented. The existence of the old structure despite the new directives has been a source of confusion for officers present in town halls. Meanwhile, the incompetence of the authorities in providing a smooth transition into the new system has resulted in a number of people becoming the primary victims of the confusion as they try to have their matters sorted.
Municipal officers have been appointed for the regulatory, building, infrastructure, services, and finance branches, but the by-laws have not been finalised for any of these branches of local government. Even appointed officers are not aware of the limits of their authority and what legal actions they are allowed to take under the new structure.
The move does not make sense considering the lack of homework done by the government. They have now had to use section 154 of the Punjab local government act 2013 to allow the officers to use their powers under the previous system.
Lahore Mayor Col (r) Mubashir Javed has also only been seen in recent days chairing meetings and attending official events. No moves seem to have been made towards completing and implementing the new by-laws.
The mayor was unavailable for comment when contacted, according to his assistant.
