10 February 2005	Thursday	30 Zilhaj 1425

KARACHI, Feb 9: A city government spokesman on Wednesday said the authority to grant lease to the katchi abadis had been given by the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) to the city government.

The spokesman, in a statement said that grant of lease to katchi abadis was the unanimous decision of the city council. It would benefit hundreds of thousands of poor people living in the numerous katchi abadis of Karachi, he said.

He categorically denied that grant of lease to dwellers of katchi abadis was an election stunt, and said the Sindh Katchi Abadis Authority had started grant of lease only after the city government started it.

He said that the city council by reducing lease rates proved that the city government was not only a sympathiser of poor dwellers of the katchi abadis, but also keen to provide them with all civic rights. - APP