Karachi: Residents of Karachi will not be subjected to any new tax nor will the rate of existing taxes be increased by the cash-strapped municipal authority of the provincial capital.
Instead, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) will utilise its existing resources and assets to increase its revenue to secure financial autonomy. The decisions to this effect were reached as Sindh Information and Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah chaired the first meeting of the committee constituted to increase the revenue of KMC. Karachi’s Administrator Laeeq Ahmed and other senior officials attended the meeting.
One of the methods to be adopted to increase revenue is making it compulsory to pay the utility charges - payable by residents and businesses alike to the KMC for providing municipal services in the city - whenever transfer of ownership of any property takes place in Karachi.
The Local Government Minister directed the Senior Member, Board of Revenue Sindh, to adopt a mechanism, which will not allow transfer of ownership of any property in Karachi without clearing the dues of utility charges.
He emphasised the need of adopting a transparent mechanism to collect taxes to benefit the public exchequer.
The rent of the 242 huts of the KMC on the famous Hawke’s Bay beach of Karachi-used by picnickers and beachgoers will be increased.
The KMC will also identify new sites in the city to establish fuel stations.
The Local Government Minister also directed the officials to utilise the public-private partnership (PPP) mode of development for constructing a shopping mall in the posh Clifton area of the city.
He said the KMC owned 71 different markets in the city and two or three should be selected to reconstruct them on modern lines under the PPP mode of development.
