‘Country’s progress linked to LG system’

An Interview with Dostain Khan Jamaldini, Secretary Local Government of Balochistan

QUETTA: Secretary Local Government Balochistan, Dostain Khan Jamaldini, has a vast experience of heading different departments of the government, including health, finance and energy. He was also Chairman of Gwadar Port Authority, and has managed the province’s agrarian sectors such as livestock and dairy development, food department and others.

As the Secretary Local Government, he is currently supervising developments focused on the revival of local bodiers institutions of the province. Bol News spoke to him about the challenges the system faces in the province, and what are the possible solutions.

Q. Local government elections were held across all of Balochistan province except in Quetta. When will these be held?

DOSTAIN KHAN JAMALDINI: Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province in terms of area. So local government elections are also an activity spread across a wide terrain.

When I took charge as Secretary Local Government, the first phase of local elections was about to be held. The provincial government gave full support to this whole process and the elections here remained more peaceful than in other provinces. No complaints were received from anywhere. In the past, local elections often triggered tribal conflicts, but this time a new tradition was set. After general seats, the process of elections to reserved seats has also been completed.

The second phase will start in February and elections to the remaining seats will be completed in March. This includes elections in Quetta where they had to be put off due to the fact that some constituency delimitations were challenged in the court.

Quetta is a metropolitan city inhabited by different nationalities. I have written to the district administration that the town committees should be expanded. This proposal has been approved. The re-demarcation of constituencies is likely to take around one to two months, after which elections will be called.

Let me mention here that when I was appointed to the post of Secretary Local Government, I reviewed all the legal aspects of the local government institutions, and also had an opportunity to visit some countries to assess the role of local governments in the development of those countries.

It is a forgone conclusion that if a country wants to develop, it has to improve its local government system. It is unfortunate that there has been no continuity of local governments in Pakistan.

Q. So, should we understand that the local government system will be fully functional in Balochistan by April?

DKJ: Can’t say by April, but by this year, surely. Our efforts are focused on holding them as soon as possible.

Q. You are aware of the situation that emerged in Karachi. Are there any chances of similar issues coming to the fore in Quetta elections?

DKJ: Obviously, every city has its own dynamics. But I don’t think Quetta has the kind of overlapping ethnic rivalries that characterize the politics of Karachi. Here, different ethnic groups merge with each other in a more cordial manner. Their residential zones are also mostly separate from each other.

Q. Devolution of powers to the local government is also an issue and councilors have been complaining about it. Are there any appropriate amendments to the rules in the pipeline?

DKJ: We have recently suggested to the Balochistan Assembly to implement 47 amendments made to the Balochistan Local Government Act 2010. Most of these amendments are related to elections, but many are also focused on powers of the local bodies.

Q. In the past, local government finances were controlled by the commissioners and deputy commissioners. Will this system change?

DKJ: This has changed. Administrative and financial power have been devolved to the local bodies. Under the new amendments, the local government will create its own budget.

Q. Will they also have the authority to endorse various certificates and identity documents of the citizens in their jurisdiction?

DKJ: Under the 5th Schedue of the Balochistan Local Government Act 2010, local bodies’ functions include public health, sanitation, registration of birth certificates and educational documents. Under the law, it will now get a fixed share in revenue instead of grants by the provincial government which was the practice earlier. As such, the local bodies have now been made truly autonomous.

Q. Compared to other provinces, the local governments in Balochistan do not collect any revenue from their own sources such as from billboards, local tax collection, etc. Is corruption in local bodies a factor?

DKJ: There are elements of corruption everywhere in the world. In Pakistan, local government institutions are reputed to be focussed more on corruption than governance. But the reason is that the system has often been in a stop-start state and thereby not allowed to evolve. If we let the system run continuously, a lot of the problems will be solved through evolution.

For example, see the Chaman city affairs. Nearly all the land in the area belongs to the local councils. The same is the case with Nushki. Then there are such revenue sources as property tax, motor vehicle tax, certain categories of the general sales tax and duties on town planning activities, etc. All these revenues ought to be raised by local bodies but are being collected by the provincial government.

All these questions are in the pipeline, and will be taken up by the Local Councils Finance Commission.

Q. Local government’s sanitary staff in Quetta often leave work and block roads to protest for their demands. Does the sanitation system need to be privatised?

DKJ: All over Pakistan, the drainage system of local councils is managed by daily-wage workers. In some areas like Lahore and Karachi, solid waste management companies have been given the contracts. We are also thinking of doing the same, but our shortcoming is that there isn’t enough garbage generated in Quetta to attract the private sector.

Some years ago, Quetta Metropolitan Corporation (QMC) entered into an agreement with a company which has also set up a plant on the Eastern Bypass. The matter ended up in court. It has now been resolved, however, and the waste management plant is being reactivated.

Q. The sewage system in Quetta is in a bad shape. If you go to Imdad Chowk, for example, the sewage system has completely failed…

DKJ: Overlapping of functions is our main problem. There are three types of sewage. The east-west flow from the mountain is under the Irrigation Department. Similarly, some time ago, the Construction & Works department dug a huge drainage project in Quetta which is yet to be activated. The streets are the responsibility of the local governments, and often suffer due to fund shortages.

What we need to understand is the fact that small drains flow into large drains. If efficient and well-coordinated plans of action are laid down for different levels, problems will be solved.

Q. Car parking is another main issue. A parking plaza has been built but there are disagreements on how it will be managed. When the government announced free parking, the QMC opposed it. But when the government suggested levying a tax on parking revenue, the QMC resists it, asking why it should pay that tax when it will be paying salaries to the parking staff.

DKJ: The parking plaza was built with funds from the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). But once it’s handed over to the QMC, its administrative affairs will then be run under the QMC rules. The problem is that the provincial government still considers the local institutions as a department and not a separate unit.

Our democratic system has not yet matured enough, but if it is allowed to continue unhindered, things will improve.

Q. Regarding the 18th Amendment, it is often said that while the federation kept the resources to itself, it transferred liabilities to the provinces. What is your opinion on this?

DKJ: As I said, the system has to evolve. This will continue until the system reaches maturity.