A members meeting was held on 19th February 2010 at the hotel Marriott, Karachi. Mr. Saad Rashid, Executive Director of TI-P addressed the gathering and gave a brief presentation of the activities that had been done in the past six months in various sectors. He also discussed the results achieved and the financials of the organization. Mr Rashid spoke on the Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre which was offering free legal advice to victims of corruption. A good number of citizens had approached TI-P with their complaints.

 The Chairman, Syed Adil Gilani, briefed the members regarding the focus of TI-P. He   talked about the cases being pursued by TI-P in the courts against the regulatory bodies Karachi Building Control Authority and the Defence Housing Authority for not following the law and safeguarding the interest of the public. Mr Gilani also spoke of the monitoring in the Public Procurement area and the resulting savings achieved as a result of it. He told the members that the National Perception Corruption Survey 2010 will start in the beginning of March 2010 and the results published in June 2010. The NCPS 2009 was released in June 2009.

 He informed the members of the interim order passed by the Sindh High Court in September 2009 directing the KBCA to post the following  information on the KBCA website:

• The mandatory information as prescribed in the Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations, 2002 Regulations 5.1 and 5.2, and Floor certificate issued by KBCA under Regulation 3.2.11, to be provided to KBCA by the builders/developers, shall also be posted on the website of the project by the builder, as well as on the website of KBCA by KBCA, for public knowledge and monitoring.

 

The forum was opened for discussion. A lively interaction took place. Some of the topics discussed were Electricity, Judicial Appointments, Merit in hiring Public Service Personnel, Police, Awareness Raising, Financials of TI Pakistan.  Questions were answered by Mr Saad Rashid and Mr Syed Adil Gilani on the various aspects of TI  Pakistan’s activities. 

Suggestions were offered by various members. An interactive debate took place on some of the suggestions. Those considered controversial were rejected. One of the members suggested that TI Pakistan should address those issues that they could handle comfortably with the personnel and funds they have instead of putting their hand in each pie. Suggestions were noted to be considered for the future.