Land fraud

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

As the issue of land politics assumes greater prominence in Pakistan, it is unsurprising that more and more deceptions are being unearthed. Land-grabbing is a long-standing problem, particularly in urban areas. In some cases the issue has been linked to violent crime, as in Karachi where there are growing indications that some of the violence mistaken for ethnic or political rivalry is actually motivated by disputes over land.



While such activities are difficult to quell, other sorts of scams involving land are easier to trace. Quite often they represent fraud of massive proportions and the loser is usually the government. Take, for example, a recent assessment carried out by the Punjab Board of Revenue, which found that over Rs666m was owed to it by various land developers who had not paid the requisite royalty fee while converting agricultural tracts into residential or commercial property. The exercise threw up 227 such cases in six divisions of the province, including Lahore, Faisalabad and Sahiwal divisions with Bahawalpur division topping the list for the greatest number of infractions. Of the massive sum of money owed, the BoR has so far been able to recover just over Rs15m. Efforts are under way to obtain the fee from the rest of the defaulters.

Such illegalities will only increase in a country where urbanisation is often unchecked and the demand for land, particularly residential and commercial, far outstrips availability. It is time the government started taking the issue of land scams and politics seriously, for land is now amongst the biggest and most ruthless businesses in Pakistan. At stake is not just the loss of revenue for the government: Karachi presents us with a case where powerful land mafias and vested interest groups have infiltrated political parties and ethnic groupings. If the sector remains so unregulated, the rot could spread.