KARACHI, Jan 14: To discourage land mafia and speculative trading in real estate, especially in Karachi, the Sindh government is mulling over a ban on transfer of leased properties in Katchi Abadis at least for five years after first allotment.

This was stated by Sindh Minister for Local Government, Katchi Abadis and Spatial Development Mohammad Hussain while speaking at an open katchehry in Orangi on Saturday evening.

He said that there were complaints that the land mafia was benefiting from the transfer of properties in the Katchi Abadis by purchasing such properties at a cheaper rate and then selling it later at a much higher rates.

The minister noted that Orangi had remained an area neglected by the previous city administration which had resulted in an increase in civic problems here. The present administration, he pointed out, was paying due attention to these problems in order to resolve them same. Development works costing Rs2.5 billion have been initiated in Orangi, he added.

He said that the development work carried out over the past 14 months in Orangi were unprecedented in the history of the city and the town. More uplift projects would be completed during the remaining tenure, he assured the audience.

He said that during the period 1992-2000, no uplift scheme had been initiated in Karachi while the existing projects had been neglected.—PPI/APP