Gul Plaza fire: Khawaja Asif calls for empowered local govts

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Tuesday said repeated fire incidents in Karachi, including the deadly blaze at Gul Plaza, had exposed the failure of urban governance and highlighted the urgent need for an empowered local government system across the country.

Speaking in the National Assembly during a discussion on the Karachi tragedy, Asif said no words could adequately express the grief over the loss of precious lives.

He noted that managing a mega city like Karachi had become “humanly impossible” without devolved governance, particularly in view of frequent fatal incidents, including deadly accidents involving dumpers.

“I am not blaming individuals, I am blaming the system,” he said, adding that excessive concentration of powers at provincial capitals had rendered governance ineffective.

He said that despite the 18th Amendment, authority had not been transferred to the grassroots level in its true spirit.

The defence minister said empowering citizens required a strong, functional and autonomous local government system.

“If there is no empowered local government, there will be no effective fire brigade, no timely emergency response and no accountability at the neighbourhood level,” he said.

Khawaja Asif urged lawmakers on both sides of the House to recognise that tragedies such as the Karachi fire demanded structural reforms, including the transfer of power from provincial capitals to districts, tehsils and neighbourhoods.

He warned that unless the country’s 250 million citizens were empowered at the grassroots, parliamentary representation would lose its meaning.

Referring to the Gul Plaza fire, Khawaja Asif said the absence of an effective local system had resulted in a lack of coordination on the ground, forcing different institutions, including defence and aviation fire units, to respond in an ad hoc manner.

Calling the situation a wake-up call, he urged parliament to undertake serious reflection and introduce meaningful constitutional reforms to strengthen local governments.