02 March 2004	Tuesday	10 Muharram 1425

ISLAMABAD, March 1: The residents of France Colony, F-7/4, protested against the Capital Development Authority's decision to close all but the main entrance to the kutchi abadi.

About 300 men, women, and children gathered at the site to condemn the decision and vowed to resist its implementation. France Colony has over 500 homes and is the most densely populated section of the sector. A wall goes around the perimeter of the abadi with spaces for one main entrance and three or four less used entrances at the opposite end of the abadi.

It was recently brought to the knowledge of the France Colony residents that rich people living in bungalows near the abadi entrances did not want to see poor people pass through their streets. Therefore, they appealed to the CDA to close these entrances.

The residents of the abadi held a meeting on Sunday in which it was decided that this action would be strongly resisted. Speakers at the meeting condemned the injustice being meted out to them and pointed out that they had as much right as the rich people to go in and out of their homes and walk on the streets.

France Colony Alliance representative Saba Mark said kutchi abadi residents lived in overcrowded spaces with no access to basic facilities. The residents have not been allotted ownership rights yet despite repeated promises by the federal government.

As a result, they are unwilling to invest their meagre incomes in the uplift of their immediate surroundings because there is no guarantee that they will not be forced to relocate at the whim of the CDA.