Karachi: KPT land may be added to Benazir Park

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Moonis Ahmed

KARACHI: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping has said that a piece of land belonging to the KPT, which has been grabbed by some men, might be added to the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park.

This was decided in a hurriedly called meeting of the Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping and was led by Chairman Rana Mehmood ul Hassan at the KPT’s head office on Friday.

It was said during the meeting that this piece of land may be made part of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park. However, as a decision is pending decision from the court, the disputed land would be sealed under section 145 of the court order and the Sindh Police will look after it for the time being.

It was decided during the meeting that a sub committee comprising members Fouzia Wahab, Syed Nasir Ali Shah, Khawaja Sohail Mansoor and Sardaqr Mansab Ali Dogar would also be constituted to look after the issues of KPT’s land in detail.

The chairman said that a follow up meeting will be convened after Eid to look over other related issues concerning ports, while he expressed satisfaction over the fact that port charges have been reduced by 10 percent as announced by the prime minister, but its effects in the light of the imposition of a 16 percent excise duty need to be seen.

Earlier, a briefing was given by KPT Civil Works and Estates General Manager Pervez Younis. The briefing included a comprehensive background on the issue of KPT’s jurisdiction and extension of its limits as authorised by the government from time to time.

The briefing said that KPT’s land was subject to encroachment and a total of 780 acres was encroached by various unauthorised parties and colonies. It was agreed that KPT’s land constituted government property and needed to be protected effectively as it was essentially needed for future port projects.

The Sindh Police IG, CCPO and Sindh Board of Revenue members also attended the meeting.

CCPO Wasim Ahmed said that despite the resource constraints the police was coping with various challenges and was helping to control the situation. It was highlighted that the land under dispute at Mai Kolachi was sub judice, therefore, its disposal would depend on the court’s decision.

It is pertinent to mention that some men had grabbed KPT’s land that is located on Mai Kolachi Road, while the police and KPT officials could not get the land released from the men, who showed little restraint in pointing their guns at officials who had come to reclaim the land.

According to the KPT officials, the trust had given the land on lease to be used as rented marriage hall.

Interestingly, real estate dealers of the city say that even in the current, depressed state of the real estate market, a deal of this land would fetch at least Rs 72 billion, while imaginative international marketing of this chunk of lank would see the government earning an excess of $1 billion.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg12_1