November 12, 2006	Sunday	Shawwal 19, 1427

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HYDERABAD, Nov 11: An All Parties Conference (APC) on Saturday gave call for a province-wide protest on November 21 against the sale of two islands of Sindh to a UAE-based firm. The protest day coincides with World Fishermen Day.

The APC, convened by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) at the local press club was attended by all the national and nationalist parties except for PPP. MMA Senator Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro presided over the conference.

Mr Soomro criticised the federal government for handing over the islands to Emar, a foreign firm, to construct a 'modern city' in violation of all the rules and regulations.

Regretfully, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, too, declared that the islands were the property of Port Qasim Authority (PQA) on his visit to Karachi on October 14, he said, adding that the PQA, which itself stood on the leased land had no right to sell something to somebody else what it did not own.

Giving facts and figures about the islands’ actual ownership, he said that the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Thailand-based firm to establish "Karachi Technology Island City" on 300 acres of Bundal island.

A report dated October 8, 2002, cited the MoU’s signatories as CDGK, Army Welfare Trust, Software Houses Association and a Thai firm, EDP Services and Access Capital. The then nazim city, Naimatullah Khan, had told a journalist after the MoU signing ceremony that the CDGK was ready to hand over the land for the project, a proof the CDGK considered the land was its property, he said.

Sindh government took notice of the islands’ sale after a consortium of Korea and Japan expressed their interest in the expressions of interest (EoI) invited by PQA on April 20 this year, he said.

He said that senior member of the Board of Revenue Syed Anwar Hyder had said on February 23 this year at a meeting at the Governor's House that the land belonged to Sindh government and that when the PQA was established its area of operation was clearly defined and Bundal island was not its part.

Mr Soomro cited a letter dated September 9, 2000 and said that the article 172 of the constitution said, "provided that any forest or quarry or any unclaimed, unoccupied, deserted or wasteland or any spontaneous produce or other accessory interest in land belonging to the land owners, it shall be presumed to belong to government while the article 172(I) said that "any property which has no rightful owner shall, if located in a province, vest in government of that province and in every other case, in the federal government".