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| February 8, 2002 | Friday | Ziqa’ad 24, 1422 |
Delay in shifting of cattle pens
MULTAN, Feb 7: The shifting of cattle pens to the colonies on the outskirts of the district has been postponed four times due to lethargy by the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) and delay in signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between land and cattle pen owners.
The TMA chalked out a plan in Nov 2001 to shift the cattle pens from different residential areas to a 1,870-kanal tract on the outskirts of the district. The date for shifting was fixed Dec 25. However, no development took place ever since.
When contacted, Gawala Colony convener Basharat Husain told this correspondent that the delay was the outcome of municipal officials’ lethargy and lengthy procedure.
He claimed Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) took 15 days in issuing the NOC to the Gawala Colony. The TMA engineering branch also caused unnecessary delay in performing the duty, he said.
Former tehsil municipal officer (TMO) had sanctioned the colonies, he said, adding the current official wanted to ensure some conditions to be followed by the land owners before issuing the NOC. The official wanted the land owners to get sewerage system and roads constructed in the colonies, he added.
TMO Muhammad Ashiq claimed the shifting plan was not properly chalked out. He said the MOU would be signed between land and pen owners when the former would agree on the conditions. The TMA would monitor all the process to ensure better results, he said.
Nearly 6,400kg dung has for years been creating sewage problems in Multan. It has become a permanent source of communicable diseases like malaria and tetanus.
Scores of people have from time to time demanded the authorities concerned to shift the pens to avoid traffic delays on road.
COTTON BALES: The government should direct the Trading Corporation of Pakistan to purchase 1.9 million cotton bales from ginners.
This was demanded by Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association president Chaudhry Masood Husain in a press release issued here on Thursday.
The TCP received funds to purchase one million cotton bales but it purchased only 150,000 bales, he said. Now ginners could neither purchase more cotton nor pay the dues of farmers.
If the government did not resolve the issue, the growe