From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: The possibility of a clash between Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab and the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) town chairmen has increased after the Mayor ordered an audit of the funds of all 246 Union Councils (UCs), media reported.
Murtaza Wahab has written a letter to the Director General of Local Council Audit, stating that the audit will ensure transparency in the three-year financial performance of the UCs.
He has also ordered the Local Council Department to immediately initiate a special financial audit to determine how the funds of the 246 UCs have been spent. He stressed that a three-year audit is unavoidable for understanding their financial performance.
Furthermore, he said the audit is necessary for checking the allocation of the monthly amount of Rs 12 lakh (Rs 1.2 million), adding that a complete and special audit is mandatory to get an accurate picture of the funds used.
KMC officials provided the following financial details:
From June 2023 to September 2024 (a 16-month period), a total of Rs 1.96 billion (196 crore) was paid monthly to the UCs.
From September 2024 onwards, the payment has been calculated at Rs 12 lakh per month, totaling Rs 4.42 billion (442 crore).
Authorities apprised that initially, every UC was paid Rs 5 lakh monthly, then Rs 12 lakh, and is now being paid Rs 13 lakh.
During the Rs 5 lakh period, UCs drew a total of Rs 80 lakh, and in the Rs 12 lakh period, they were paid Rs 1.80 crore.
In total, each Union Council has received a cumulative amount of approximately Rs 2.60 crore over the past 31 months.
Collectively, the city’s 246 UCs have been released over Rs 6.39 billion (639 crore) in the last 31 months.
