LAHORE: A number of Lahore Development Authority officials, including union office-bearers, stopped working and held a protest after scuffles took place between the security staff and union office-bearers at LDA’s Johar Town Complex on Saturday.

However, the LDA management rejected the union’s stance and termed it a bid to pressurise it for entertaining some officials who were the land mafia members and wanted allotment of plots unlawfully.

The initial quarrel started after the LDA security chief allegedly misbehaved with some union office-bearers at the main gate when they were going to their offices. On the other hand, the security officials held the office-bearers responsible for not following the standard operating procedures regarding entry to the LDA offices and misbehaving with them unnecessarily.

The scuffles continued for half an hour and both the groups slapped each other after which the union chief asked all the officials (BPS-1 to 16) to stop work and gather in the compound. Some of them broke into LDA’s one-window cell and got stopped working. They also allegedly misbehaved with senior officials and the people present there.

Chanting slogans against the LDA administration, they termed the security officials’ act a bid to bury their voice for acceptance of various demands, including allotment of plots to the employees in LDA schemes.

LDA Staff Welfare Union Secretary-General Aqeel Akram told Dawn he had objected to entry of two people without identification and the security staff started misbehaving with him.

He said they did not let him enter without the identity card which he had forgot at home and he was manhandled which led to the scuffle.

Talking to Dawn, an LDA official termed the protest a drama to hide corruption of those who had been involved in making bogus files and tampering with genuine plots’ files.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2014