0
The meeting, which was jointly presided over by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad and Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and attended among others by top officials of the provincial and city governments, decided to constitute a six-member committee to oversee the matters concerning the retrieval of government land from encroachers.
Headed by Revenue Minister Jam Mehatb Dahar, the committee has Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani and IT Minister Raza Haroon as its co-chairmen and Najmi Alam of the Pakistan People's Party, Waseem Aftab of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Bashir Jan of the Awami National Party as its members.
The committee, which is likely to be notified by the Sindh government on Thursday, will build consensus on the location where an anti-encroachment operation is required before issuing directives to officials concerned for the removal of encroachments.The meeting decided that if the six-member committee failed to reach a consensus at any point, it would refer the matter to the governor and the chief minister.
Earlier, representatives of two out of the three coalition partners — the ANP and the PPP — took exception to the way the city government's anti-encroachment drive was being run.
ANP Sindh President Shahi Syed said that his party was not against the drive for retrieving the land encroached upon by land mafia, but before razing one-room houses built by poor people with all their savings, the land-grabbers who had sold them the land should be taken to task.
“Since the land in urban parts of the city such as Nazimabad, Mohammad Ali Society Park and that in Gutter Baghicha is costlier than the value of land in Baldia or on the outskirts of the city, anti-encroachment operations should be carried out in the centre instead of the peripheral localities inhabited by the poor people,” Amin Khattak of the ANP argued.
Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Babar Ghauri said this was a sensitive issue and should not be politicised. He called for removal of encroachments from both sides of Gujjar nullah up to Golimar, because these settlements were a big hurdle in the flow of rainwater.
Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Dr Farooq Sattar said that it was a core issue that was being addressed. If this issue got resolved, other matters would be settled and the writ of the government would not be challenged in the city anymore. Revenue Minister Jam Mehtab said that he was not taken on board before launching the city government's anti-encroachment drive, which surprised him. He said the anti-encroachment operations were being carried out without his knowledge. He said the government should also look into the fact that state land had been encroached upon with the connivance of revenue and police officials.
Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani objected to the attitude of some officials who had used his and the home minister's name during the drive carried out in Soomar Jokhio Goth. He said any official found involved in patronising land grabbing would be taken to task.
Senior Sindh Minister Pir Mazharul Haq said the anti-encroachment drive was the decision of the coalition government and as such the officials carrying it out should not use the name of any minister.
Kutchi Abadi Minister Rafique Engineer said that the Soomar Jokhio Goth was removed when its land was allotted to the Pakistan Steel in 1974. The villagers were not served notice before the operation was launched, he added.
Lauding the outcome of the drive, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad assured the participants of the meeting that old settlements would not be demolished. He said that President Asif Ali Zardari had issued specific instructions for the removal of encroachments and the anti-encroachment drive had been launched with the cooperation of the political parties.
He said that land-grabbers could attempt to influence political leaders and use other methods to build pressure during the operation, but President Zardari had ordered that the drive be run without any discrimination.
Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, in his remarks, said the government land was the property of people and protecting land was the responsibility of the government. He recalled that when land-grabbers were fighting each other the government was being blamed for the killings. He said the president took serious notice of the killings over land encroachment and this drive was launched with the support of political parties.
Retrieved land
Meanwhile, EDO Revenue Roshan Shaikh gave a presentation on the anti-encroachment operation carried out by the city government. He said that 1,854 acres had been retrieved after successful operations against encroachers. He added that more than 1,600 acres had been recovered in Gadap Town, 22 acres in Scheme 33, and 99 acres in Bin Qasim Town and 52 acres in Baldia Town.
He said 10 FIRs had been registered against land-grabbers including Nazeer Sheikh, Nasir Wasi, Spin Pathan, Ali Hassan Brohi, Hazoor Bux Kalwar, Asif and Suleman Memon.
Irrigation Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Law Minister Ayaz Soomro, Health Minister Dr Saghir Ahmad, Public Health Engineering Minister Adil Siddiqui, IT Minister Dr Raza Haroon and MQM leader Waseem Aftab, ANP leaders Gul Afridi, Bashir Jan, and Pir Riaz, PPP Karachi President Najmi Alam, Chief Secretary Fazlur Rahman, Home Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan, the Sindh IGP, Deputy DG Rangers, CCPO and other officials also attended the meeting.
