960407

Fahim-uz-Zaman

resigns

in protest

WIRASAT HUSSAIN

KARACHI: Fahim-uz-Zaman Khan, Administrator, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, is reported to have resigned from his post in protest over the proposal to reinstate the dissolved zonal municipal committees and introduce radical changes in the local bodies system.

Repeated attempts to contact Fahim-uz-Zaman at his residence and office failed to receive any response. A visit to his office at the KMC on Sunday evening also did not bear any fruits. His staff sitting idle in their offices said: "Saheb is not in the office and has left to attend a meeting at a friend's residence. As far as the news relating to resignation is concerned, we do not know anything".

A close friend of Fahim-uz-Zaman, when contacted, said that he (Fahim) had been opposing the move of the Sindh Government to again restore independent zonal municipal committees and give them more power in financial and administrative affairs. The source said Fahim had never accepted the idea of placing KMC under any bureaucratic control.

He said Fahim had also been repeatedly contacting the provincial government and asking the high-ups to hold local bodies elections and handover the KMC administration to elected members of the people.

Other sources said Fahim had recently met the Chief Minister and vehemently opposed the idea of recreating independent zonal municipal committees. Though it was not confirmed but it was believed that the Chief Minister had refused to listen to Fahim-uz-Zaman and insisted upon implementing the "political decision".

However, sources confirmed that Fahim-uz-Zaman had resigned and sent his resignation to the Prime Minister for necessary action.