- NOC of SITE LTD and SITE Association should be acceptable for post-fire utilities restoration-President SITE Association
Karachi, September 26, 2019: Saleem Parekh, President, SITE Association of Industry, has protested over threatening of industrialists of SITE area by the KMC officials to make payment of lacs of rupees in the name of Municipal Utilities Charges & Tax (MUCT).
He said that KMC, in a bid to increase its income, is interfering into the affairs of SITE LIMITED – a Sindh government body responsible to provide civic facilities in SITE area. It seems that they have considered industries are goose laying golden eggs. Mr.Parekh demanded Chief Minister Sindh to issue directives to DMC West to perform duties within its jurisdiction.
Giving details about the tax, Mr.Parekh said that the MUCT department of the KMC is harassing industries by demanding payment of lacs of rupees under Municipal Utilities Charges & Tax (MUCT) and have linked its collection with the issuance of Fire Certificate.
He added that when a fire incident occurs in an industry, its power and gas connections are temporarily disconnected as a precautionary measure to save from the losses of lives or property. After the fire, when the industry applies for restoration of power & gas connections to resume production, the K-Electric and SSGC demand Fire Certificate/NOC of KMC.
When the affected industrialist approaches KMC for the said Fire Certificate/NOC, they are asked to produce NOC of MUCT department despite the fact that SITE area doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of DMC West where Sindh government owned SITE LIMITED is working.
As such, as per law, the DMC West is not authorized to levy/collect any tax from SITE industries. Therefore, it is unlawful to demand MUCT department NOC for the issuance of Fire Certificate.
“Not only this, the industrialists are asked to get themselves registered with the MUCT department whereas the industries are already registered with the Government of Sindh who have all the data & details in SITE Limited. These industries also pay contributions as per Sindh labour laws”, he added.
President SITE Association said that at the time of setting up of industries, the NOCs issued by the SITE LIMITED and SITE Association are accepted for power and gas new connections while the same is denied for power and gas connections restoration.
Saleem Parekh demanded the honorable Chief Minister Sindh to issue directives to DMC West to desist from harassing industries in the name of MUCT collection and perform duties within its jurisdiction. He also demanded that NOC of SITE LIMITED and SITE Association should be acceptable for post-fire utilities restoration.
