KARACHI, May 19: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim has directed that the road coming from Ahsanabad Industrial Area and Gulshan-i-Maymar should be extended by one kilometer and connected with the Taiser Town site of Lyari River Expressway Resettlement Project and adjoining Khuda Ki Basti so that residents of these areas could reach industrial areas in minutes.
He also issued directive for expediting the work on the hospital being set up by the provincial health department.
He issued these directives while talking to members of families shifted from Lyari River to Taiser Town resettlement site on Thursday evening. Principal Secretary Ayub Shaikh, DCO Karachi Fazlur Rehman, EDO Revenue Saleh Farooqi and other senior officers also accompanied him during the visit.
The chief minister, who paid a detailed visit to Taiser and Baldia Town sites of Resettlement Project, expressed satisfaction over the pace of work. He directed that all facilities of life should be provided to families being shifted from Lyari River to their new resettlement sites.
He said that Lyari Expressway shiftees were being taken out of unhygienic conditions and resettled in a clean and healthy environment where they were being provided facilities of water, electricity, gas, education, parks, playground and even employment to raise their living standard.
He directed that shops in resettlement sites be allotted to local people through balloting so that they could get employment opportunities.
During the visit, he was shown the system of irrigation for plantation at resettlement sites through windmills. He stressed the need for its introduction in other areas of the province.
He also went round the schools in Taiser Town and talked to students and teachers. He was informed that at present 11 primary schools and one high school were functioning in the town in which over 4,500 children were studying. Under the resettlement project, these students were provided books, uniform and shoes free of cost. To meet the shortage of government teachers, it was told that local educated girls had been appointed as teachers who were paid monthly honoraria.
The chief minister was further informed that computer and technical centres had also been established here for girls with the cooperation of Pakistan Baitul Maal. At these centres girls were provided free training in computer, embroidery, beauty parlour and cooking. He met the teachers individually and appreciated that girls from local population had been appointed as teachers.
He also the construction of roads and other development schemes in detail.
Dr Arbab Rahim visited third resettlement site of Baldia Town at Hub River Road adjacent to Naval Colony. He had a bird-eye view of development works at the site from a hillock and informed that naturally located hillocks at the site were being developed as small parks to provide better recreational opportunities to the poor.
It was informed that work on grid station, primary school, mini-civic centre, shopping centre, shops of building materials, hawkers bazaar and dispensary had been completed at the site.
The chief minister was told that 2,924 plots had been earmarked for shiftees along with six schools, four mosques, eight parks and playgrounds, 21 public centres, two hospitals and dispensaries, one community centre, one vocational centre and a mini-hill park at the site.
Earlier, the chief minister was given a briefing at the Chief Minister’s House where he directed that a transparent policy be pursued for allotment of alternate plots to the shiftees of Lyari Expressway Project.
“No one should be rendered homeless and all affected shiftees must be allotted alternate plots,” he said.
During the briefing, he was informed that the city government's revenue department carried out an initial survey in the first phase while in the second phase, the department along with public representatives carried out verification of affectees.
A committee of revenue officials and public representatives was also formed in the light of whose recommendations, the decision was taken for providing 80sq-yard free plot along with payment of Rs50,000 for construction work.
According to revised figures, the number of affected families was 24,419 for whose resettlement land had been allotted in sectors 6, 9 and 10 in Hawksbay Scheme-42, sectors 35, 36, 36-A and 50 in Taiser Town, Scheme-45 and sectors 29 and 21-B in Baldia Town. Besides, more land has been allotted in Taiser Town with a total area having been increased to 998 acres.—APP
