KARACHI: The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) and Site Association of Industry (SAI) on Monday entered into another row over the collection of municipal service charges.
The industry is being continuously harassed by one institution or the other, which keeps the owners running from pillar to post to get relief and justice, observed a leading industrialist. Only recently, recovery issue of labour related levies resulted in issuance of warrants of arrest of leading industrialists for recovery of labour related levies.
The dispute was, however, resolved on chief minister’s intervention and physical inspection of factories by labour inspectors was banned. It was also directed that a prior notice giving date and time for inspection will be issued.
Within a short span of three months the industry had been served with notices by the Site Town administration for the recovery of trade license fee followed by bills for municipal services.
Taking the matter seriously chairman Site association immediately took the issue with the secretary industries and Adviser to CM on Investment Zubair Motiwala.
Mr Jabbar in his letter to both the officials alleged that the Site industrialists were being continuously harassed by the Site Town administration of CDGK. In the recent past, he said, the issue of trade license was raised by issuing notices under Land Revenue Act.
Now the CDGK raised the issue of bills for municipal services to the industries in Site area. He pointed out that municipal services were provided by SITE Ltd, which is the administrative body like cantonment boards. It is looking after its tenants, who have been allotted land on 99 years lease and is also providing municipal services to the industries in its limits and charge the same.
The Site Association chairman further said the CDGK or for that matter the defunct KMC had never claimed such taxes and charges in the last 62 years but it has been observed during last 3 to 4 years that the officials of CDGK, especially in district West, have become active and are harassing industrialists in Site area by issuing different kinds of notices under Land Revenue Act.
He said that the most unfortunate part of the episode was when the matter was taken up with the City Nazim Mustafa Kamal an ugly situation emerged because instead of looking into the matter from legal point of view a notice was issued to Site association demanding payment of Rs1 million towards payment of bills for municipal services.
The Site chairman has appealed to the chief minister to immediately intervene. LINK