HYDERABAD, April 16: The Save Kohistan Action Committee on Monday demanded that the government should pay compensation for the land in Nooriababd, which it charged, had been encroached upon to set up factories and locals should be provided jobs in the factories and projects in Kohistan area.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club the office-bearers of the committee, Mohammad Bux Brohi, Dr Lakhmir Palari, Mohammad Anwar Palari and Shah Mohammad Chang said that Kohistan area was located from Thana Bula Khan to Thatta and still lagged behind all the other areas as far as development and basic facilities were concerned.

The area was immensely rich in minerals and following the construction of the Super Highway, a large number of factories had been established in Nooriabad on the land of locals.

They said that the entire industrial zone had become a no-go area for locals as the outsiders had been recruited in the industrial units except a handful of influential people.They said that whoever raised voice against the excesses was branded as a miscreant and blackmailer and implicated in false cases. There were undreds of coal mines in Jhampir, which had been acquired by coal miners on lease without paying any compensation to locals.

They alleged that thousands of acres of land to the west of Jhampir belonging to locals had been given to Arab princes and a company, which had established farm houses, cattle farms and agriculture farms on the land and employed no local people on the farms.

They said that the local people of Kohistan had no advantage of the projects set up in their area and the main objective of the committee, an apolitical body, was to protect locals’ rights.

They demanded that the income derived from the precious stones of "Karo Jabal" (black mountain) should be spent on the welfare of locals and 70 per cent of locals should be given jobs in the projects.

They called for effective steps to dispose of effluent from industrial units, provision of water, electricity and gas facilities to the villagers and a high school, technical college, 10-bed hospital and maternity home for local population in the Nooriabad industrial zone.

They pointed out that 5,000 acres had been acquired for setting up wind mills and a Fauji Fertiliser Company, out of which, some land belonged to locals. The government should pay compensation to the land owners according to market value, they stressed.

PROTEST: Activists of teacher organisations on Monday staged a rally against the officials of the National Bank of Pakistan’s Tando Muhammad Khan branch.

However, the bank manager Ghulam Nabi Mari told journalists that no bank official had committed any excess against the government employees and they were being paid advance salaries in accordance with the bank rules.