The Implementation and Co-ordination (I&C) cell of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has been closed down by the concerned authorities due to what sources said ineffectiveness of the department, it is learnt on Friday. However, no official notification has been issued with regard to closure of the department.
The cell was directly connected with the central command and control system of the KMC and used to work for redressal of public grievances. Former City Nazim Mustafa Kamal had set up the cell in 2005, with an objective of facilitating public complaints of all eighteen towns of the city. The cell was being supervised directly by the former City Nazim.
Sources in KMC disclosed that the Administrator Karachi had expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the cell. They claimed that the Administrator had not taken any measures to run the department smoothly and had no called even a single meeting to review performance of the cell. They further said that the authorities, had two days ago, issued directives to vacate the office without giving any reason.
Sources claimed that the department was working efficiently with an effective co-ordination in order to ensure timely resolution of the public complaints. "The I&C cell had been working smoothly since 2005 to 2009 and the complaints regarding civic problems including open manhole, broken sewerage lines, faulty streets lights etc were used to be addressed within 24 hours, as the former City Nazim was personally supervising the department," sources added.
It is worth mentioning here that the KMC regularly issues bills in the form of Public Utility Charges while now it has closed the public facilitation department. The authorities claim that the department was charging the bill to provide fire-fighting services and ensuring cleanliness of streets etc.