KARACH1: The opposition in the City Council has reiterated its demand for an investigation into the destruction of newly-build roads during rains and asked the authorities to identity and name the responsible officials and contractors and take strict action against them.

The opposition led by Jamaat-i-1slami also alleged that the municipal administration was again awarding contracts of repair and rehabilitation of roads to the same firmsand individuals who were responsible for the construction of poorly built roads that damaged in first rainfall.

Addressing the meeting of the elected members, Leader of Opposition in the City Council Advocate Saifuddin said that it`s alarming that the officials who had built poorquality roads were being assigning the responsibility to build roads again.

Accompanied by Parliamentary Leader of JI in the City Council Qazi Sardaruddin, Syed Jawad Shaib, Noman Elias and others, the JI leader said that the roads and patchwork done last year by the Karachi Municipal Corporation, Sindh government, DHA, and the World Bank-funded CLICK at the cost of billions of rupees were washed away in recent rains.

`The CLICK had done patchwork worth four billion rupees in 2023, causing a loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer, and again tenders worth two billion rupees have been given, and five billionrupees has been given to the KMC under the annual development program. Amid all this, no action is taken against the responsible officials, nor against the contractors. Rather the development work is entrusted to the same incompetent officials.

He said that the mayor of Karachi could not abdicate his responsibility for these losses and he should bring contractors responsible for this substandard work to justice and the losses should be recovered.

`In determining the location of development works, the chairmen of local union committees and other elected representatives should be taken into confidence, and details of completed works should be published on the website. We believe that a board should be installed on the relevant site with details of the work, and the time and date of start of work should be determined and publicised so that elected representatives can monitor, added the City Council opposition leader.