DADU, Oct 30: Farmer Allah Rakhio alias Khamiso Khan Panhwar, of Ghar Pahenja village, Johi taluka, continued his token hunger strike outside the Johi press club on Sunday in protest against officials of oil and gas exploration company, BHP, allegedly denying him compensation of his land measuring 23 acres and 34 ghuntas located in Deh Vigaji Rati.
Mr Allah Rakhio Panhwar, and his three sons, Waqar Ahmed, 12, Riaz Ahmed, 10, and nine-year-old Gulzar are observing the token hunger strike against the company.
Talking to Dawn at the hunger strike camp, Allah Rakhio said that the officials of the Zamzama gas field had asked him to hand over his agricultural land having survey Nos. 56, 57, 58, 64/1, 2 and 69 in Deh Vigati Rati, Johi taluka , on August 11, 2000.
He alleged that the officials demolished houses of his brothers Akbar and Abbas, cousins Gulsher, Idrees and Ghulam Hussain along with two fish ponds and two tubewells. He said that the BHP had set up its headquarter at his farmland.
He also accused the officials of tampering with the revenue record, and said that the purchase of land in the name of Mr Tim Hargriz, country manager BHP company, was not correct.
He said that the BHP officials in the first phase paid him Rs500,000 through a cheque in 2000 and in second phase paid Rs2.855 million.
He said that when he was informed of the manipulation in the record of his land, he approached the BHP officials who refused to acknowledge his ancestral right.
He demanded that the BHP chief executive should intervene into the matter and provide with justice.
BHP VERSION: The In-charge of community development and external affairs of BHP, Ms Humera Malik, told this correspondent on phone from Islamabad that the company was releasing an amount of US $150,000 for education, health and social development projects every year under the oil exploration concession agreement signed between the BHP and the government of Pakistan.
She said that the development projects in health, education and social sectors were launched in different parts of Johi taluka and Dadu.
Ms Malik said that 11 primary schools for girls and boys, five clinics, one computer centre, one vocational centre were working through different local NGOs with funding from BHP.
She further said that upgradation of taluka hospital Johi, in collaboration with the BHP, was going on. She denied the charges levelled against officials of community development section of Zamzama gas field.
About land compensation, she said that the company was paying to genuine owners of the lands according to agreement and no one was affected. Referring to jobs, she said that company was providing jobs to skilled and unskilled people through advertisement and they were publishing such details in the annual report every year.