DADU, April 3: Hundreds of residents of Johi and Sehwan talukas held a demonstration outside the press club here on Thursday to protest against the refusal of the BHP and Lasmo administrations to recruit local people in the oil exploring companies.

The demonstrators were carrying banners and placards and raising slogans against the officials of the two multinational companies.

Speaking on the occasion, secretary-general of the Sindh National Party Dilshad Bhutto said that 40 per cent of the oil extracted by Lasmo and the BHP was from Sindh but the province was not receiving any royalty in return.

He deplored that the administrations of two companies were not appointing local people at Johi and Bhit Jabal fields.

He said that landowners were not paid compensation for their lands used in oil exploration.

He threatened to occupy the oil and gas wells if the administrations of the companies failed to recruit local people and to pay the compensation to the genuine landowners.

Sita Road union council Nazim Ali Mohammad Soomro and councillors Basheer Ahmed Bhatti and Majid Ghallu also spoke on the occasion.

Later, some of the participants of the demonstration also observed a token hunger strike.

JSSF: On the call of the Jeay Sindh Students’ Federation, a large number of activists of different political parties, NGOs and students of schools and colleges held a demonstration here on Thursday to protest against narcotic and gambling dens in Dadu city and surrounding areas.

Speaking to the protesters, the district president of the JSSF Mohammad Arif Thaheem said that drug and gambling dens were being run in nearly every locality of the city with the connivance of police officials.

TEACHERS: A large number of sacked teachers held a demonstration outside the local press club on Thursday to protest against their dismissal from services. Led by Habibur Rehman Pirzada, they were demanding restoration of their services.

Later, they also observed a token hunger strike.