KARACHI - Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has returned to Karachi after a two-day visit to Dubai where he met the PPPP president Asif Ali Zardari and finalised the party candidates for the chairman, vice chairman of the district councils and mayors and deputy mayors of the metropolis.

According to sources privy to details, the PPP meetings that were also attended by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Faryal Talpur, Murad Ali Shah made deliberations on several issues including local bodies’ elections, development schemes for the upcoming budget and transfer and postings in the bureaucracy.

Differences with the PPP leadership of Makhdoom family and Mir Hazar Khan Bajarani were also discussed and finally the issues with the Makhdoom family were resolved and Makhdoom Jamiluz Zaman was given go ahead to decide on the chairmanships in Hala, Mitari and Hyderabad. They, however, said issues with Bajarani were yet not resolved as after reservations over ministerial slot, differences had also emerged over issuing ticket for his family member as a chairman of Jacobabad district.

They further said Senior Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah had also conveyed his reservation to the PPP leadership over removal of Karachi Commissioner Asif Hyder Shah. Shah had also briefed the PPP leadership over the upcoming budget of the province and the development schemes in the province.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah will inaugurate the 49-km Karachi-Thatta dual carriageway on Sunday at Kathore. The event was co-organised by the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).

It is pertinent to mention here that the FWO would operate and maintain the dual carriageway through the life of concession period of 25 years. The cost of the project is Rs1.35 billion and as per the financial structure of the project, 70 percent of the cost is arranged through commercial loan and the remaining 30 percent amount through equity. Furthermore, 53.3 percent of the equity or Rs1,417 million are contributed by the FWO, whereas the remaining 46.7 percent was given by the Sindh government.

Moreover, Sindh government on Saturday expressed concern on the provisions of clauses 3(1)(iii) and 5(45) of the Finance Bill, 2016, presented in the National Assembly on Friday, saying this aimed at not only intruding the provincial domain of sales taxation on services but will also causes great anxiety and discomfort for the general body of taxpayers. In a statement issued on Saturday, the provincial government said that Clause 3(1)(iii) of the Finance Bill proposes omission of the “Provincial sales tax on services” as an input for the purpose of credit/adjustment against federal sales tax on goods and, therefore, a significant departures from the long practiced value-added concept of sales taxation. It stated Sindh finance minister had also wrote a letter to Ishaq Dar on June 1, advising him not to take any such hasty decision without consulting the provinces. His attention was also invited to the similar situation which was created through the Federal Finance Bill, 2013, which witnessed several litigations in Sindh High Court and Lahore High Court until the matter was resolved through FBR’s notification. However, it appears that this letter has gone unheeded.

It also requires that the Provincial Revenue Authority shall not accept the mandatory Provincial Sales Tax Returns unless the advance income tax has been collected and deposited. Sindh government feels that this provision is highly derogatory to the provincial authority as it stops collection of provincial sales tax in case any person is a non-filer of income tax. Sindh government will not accept any such dictation which aims at stopping the collection of Sindh sales tax and filing of Sindh sales tax returns from its taxpayers on the ground that taxpayer was a defaulter in filing the income tax return.

The statement said the Sindh government had taken a strong exception to the aforesaid two proposals made in the Federal Finance Bill. Sindh government expects the federation to respect the devolutions made through the 18th Amendment and Article 8 of the 7th NFC Award of 2010.