ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: Amid a noisy opposition protest against the LFO, the government promised to the National Assembly on Tuesday to give it an inquiry report in a few days on the devastating oil spill off the Karachi coast.

The assurance from parliamentary secretary for communications Abdul Kadir Khanzada came in response to a delayed but keen debate on the issue on a private members’ day whose proceedings were barely audible because of opposition desk-thumping and slogan-chanting.

“A full report will be brought before the house within a few days,” Mr Khanzada said in response to a call-attention notice by five members of the ruling coalition that was not taken up on the last private members’ day on Aug 26 largely because of the opposition protest.

But the parliamentary secretary said it would take “weeks and weeks” to complete what he called a scientific inquiry now under way about various aspects covering damage to environment and marine life as well as health hazards to human population from the spill of thousands of tons of oil from Tasman Spirit, which ran aground off Karachi on July 27.

He told the house that various committees were inquiring into different aspects of the matter, including the cause of the accident, which he said would be made public.

Riaz Fatyana, a PML-Q member from Toba Tek Singh and one of the five signatories of the notice, called for a judicial inquiry by the Sindh High Court instead of leaving the matter to departmental inquiries and for payment of compensation to the affected people — demands supported by several other members.

Other signatories were Malik Mohammad Saifullah Khan Tiwana (PML-Q, Khushab), Ahmed Raza Maneka (PML-Q, Pakpattan), Kashmala Tariq (PML-Q, Punjab) and Aamir Liaquat Hussain (MQM-Karachi).

Zahid Hamid (PML-Q, Sialkot), who said he was one of the drafters of the Pakistan Environment Protection Act, blamed the alleged absence of contingency plans for much of the damage from the accident.

DEMAND FOR OFFICES: As the noisy opposition protest continued throughout the sitting for about two hours, the treasury benches went ahead with a discussion, carried over from the previous Tuesday, on a resolution moved by Mr Fatyana urging the government to provide regular offices and essential staff to all members of the National Assembly in Islamabad and in their constituencies.

Seventeen members spoke in support of the resolution, most of them using the occasion also to condemn opposition protests which, they said, had sought to undermine democracy and development work undertaken by the government of Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who also made one of his rare appearances in the house.

The speakers included PML-Q members from Punjab Mehnaz Rafi, Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Bushra Rahman, Firdous Ashiq Awan, Rifat Amjad, Tahira Asif, and Mohammad Wasi Zafar.

Others were Pakistan Awami Tehrik leader Dr Mohammad Tahirul Qadri, Omar Ayub Khan (PML-Q, Haripur), Gule Farkhanda (N.A., Sindh), Haider Abbas Rizvi (MQM, Karachi), Tanvir Hussain Syed (PPP-Patriots, Rahim Yar Khan), Dewan Syed Jafar Hussain Bokhari (PML-N, Multan), Mian Riaz Pirzada (N.A., Bahawalpur), Nawab Mirza (MQM, Karachi) and Dr Nisar Ahmed (PPP-Patriots, Faisalabad.

PML-Q chief whip and Labour and Manpower Minister Abdul Sattar Laleka assured the house that the government would expedite release of development funds allocated to all members of the National Assembly for development work in their constituencies.

His assurance came after Dr Qadri complained that development funds had not reached the constituencies.

As usual, opposition members began the desk-thumping and chanting “Go, Musharraf go” and “No, LFO no” slogans immediately after the recitation from the Holy Quran at the start of the session, which was presided over by deputy speaker Sardar Mohammad Yaqub.

On a suggestion from MQM’s Kunwar Khalid Younus, the house offered fateha for two MQM members shot dead in Karachi on Monday.

Tensions increased when some members of the treasury benches used harsh words about opposition members, accusing some of them of corruption.

PPP-Patriots leader Sher Afgan Niazi made pointed remarks about MMA leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed and PPP’s Naheed Khan as both of them had gone out of the house with most other opposition members in an apparent move to break the quorum of the house. A count showed 108 members present in the house — 20 more than the required 86. But as the muezzin called for the Zuhar prayers, the house was adjourned for two days.