KOHAT, May 28: Residents of the Jarma locality on Monday turned down an offer to buy the provincial government’s land at a rate fixed by the then NWFP governor Fazle Haq in 1984.

Speaking at a jirga held in Kohat, they demanded that they should be given ownership rights at a much lower rate.

About 58,028 kanals of land worth billions of rupees was grabbed by outsiders and some local people three decades ago.

It may be mentioned that the British government had leased out the land to the Banoori family for 100 years and the agreement expired in 1973.

The ownership of the land has changed many hands since and now the per kanal price of the agricultural land is being estimated at Rs150,000.

A part of the land has become a business hub after the construction of Indus Highway.

The government has set up a university, education board and other offices in the area. The price of land has thus increased manifold.

District Nazim Gohar Saif Ullah Khan, Jarma union council nazim Dr Tehseen, tehsil nazim Dilbar Khan, MNA Mufti Ibrar, MPA Syed Qalb-e Hassan, district coordination officer Syed Shahab Ali Shah and district revenue officer Jabbar Khan attended the jirga.

The residents demanded that the government should talk to their committee and immediately set the price of the land and give them ownership rights.

They said that it was a barren area miles away from the city which they had developed into a residential and agricultural land by spending millions of rupees and the government had no right to impose its decisions on them.

Dr Tehseen said that his father had bought the land in 1973 from the owners and how could he buy the same land for the second time.

According to the government committee formed by Chief Minister Mohammad Akram Khan Durrani, the whole land would be leased out to occupants at the market rate after recovery of outstanding dues since 1973.

The committee said they would be allowed to use the land for the agriculture purpose only and the government would reserve the right to take back the land whenever needed.