Sindh: Law passed to retrieve government lands

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Imtiaz Ali
The Sindh Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a law (the Colonisation of Government LandsóAmendment bill 2009), enabling the provincial government to take back thousands of acres of the lands given to government agencies or private owners since December 6, 1969, who either did not pay the price of the land or did not use it for intended purposes.

Revenue Minister Jam Saifullah Khan Dharejo later told journalists that the Malir Development Authority was given 22,000 acres but that it had not paid the price of the land to the Sindh government so far. He said this matter had also been brought to the notice of the Sindh Chief Minister, and hoped that the provincial government would retrieve the land to utilise it for other productive purposes.

Earlier, taking part in the debate in the assembly, Law Minister Ayaz Soomro said that the Sindh government had given lands to official and non-official institutions at concessional rates in the interest of the public. However, he said the land was not utilised for the benefit of the masses and its purchasers also did not pay the price to the provincial government. He said these institutions utilised the land for other purposes.

Humera Alwani said the Sindh government had given lands to the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Railways, and Cantonments for specific purposes but now they were allegedly utilising it for commercial purposes.

Nusrat Abbasi from the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) said this law would bring about a “revolution” in the shape of retrieving official lands from “politicians” and others who were granted lands for agriculture purposes; instead they set up farms for recreational and other purposes.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movements’ (MQM) parliamentary leader, Syed Sardar Ahmed, clarified that this law did not apply to the KPT, Railways, and Cantonments. He said this law also did not apply to agricultural lands as this land could be utilised for residential or other purposes.

Information Minister Shazia Marri protested against Abbasi’s remarks against politicians. However, she added that this law would hurt the “interests” of those who wanted to remain in power in each era.

According to the law minister, this law was deemed necessary to ensure the deposit of the price of the land granted within reasonable time and to ensure that the land was used for the purpose for which it is granted. If a person failed to deposit the occupancy price within a period of three months after the issuance of offer letters or allotment letters, the offer or allotment letters shall automatically stand withdrawn and shall not be restored.

Similarly, if a person failed to use the land for the purpose for which it was granted, the land allotment shall automatically stand cancelled and the amount deposited shall stand forfeited.

The assembly also unanimously passed a law (the Sindh Public Procurement Bill, 2009) to establish “Public Procurement Regulatory Authority” (PPRA) to regulate procurement of goods, services, and works in the public sector.

Law Minister Ayaz Soomro, citing the objectives and reasons behind the law, said that the federal government had established a Public Procurement Regulatory Authority for “improving governance, management, transparency, accountability and quality” of the public procurement of goods, works, and services.

The assembly also unanimously carried out an amendment in the law to make the law minister as the Chairman of the PPRA in order to “curtail” role of the bureaucrats in the said authority.

The assembly also unanimously approved another amendment to make two MPAs as members of the authority. There would be 12 other members of the authority belonging to traders associations, civil society, Transparency International, Auditor-General, and others

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=173070