Sindh: Trading of land with burnt records frozen

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Jamil Khan
KARACHI: Trading has been banned in land whose records were burnt in the fire at the Board of Revenue office, said Sindh Minister for Revenue and Relief Murad Ali Shah in answer to a question on the floor of the Sindh Assembly Friday.

The fire took place in the eastern portion of Block 79 of the Sindh Secretariat No. 4B on March 20, 2008 and a number of files, including old deh maps and evacuee property records, were among those burnt. The revenue department will lodge another FIR as the one FIR had some mistakes, the minister told the House.

Regarding the computerization of land records in Sindh, the minister said that during the year 2003-2004, the Government of Sindh had launched a pilot scheme with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank to computerize the revenue records in five districts - Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Khairpur, Sukkur and Larkana. “A comprehensive project for the entire province was launched in 2007-2008,” he said. “The computerization and establishment of a Land Administration and Revenue Management Information System (LARMIS) at an estimated cost of Rs 921.812 million will be completed in four years.”

MQM Parliamentary leader Syed Sardar Ahmed pitched in to say that the land affairs were very complicated and before their records are computerized the paperwork should be flawless and authentic to protect genuine owners and avoid chances of ownership duplication.

Sharjeel Inam Memon then asked a question about stamp duty theft. The minister replied that the stamp duty was a voluntarily tax but they were consulting the law department to properly implement the collection of stamp duty. Minister Murad Ali Shah also took this opportunity to make it clear that during the previous government neither were any illegal promotions made nor were any illegal appointments made to the Board of Revenue or Sindh Revenue Department.

Rai Naz Ali Bozdar pointed out the massive amount of load shedding taking place in district Sukkur, especially during Sehri and Iftar timings. Sindh Minister for Information Technology Raza Haroon brought up the water shortage in different parts of the Karachi. To this, the Speaker giving a ruling saying that the high-ups of KESC had assured they would improve the power supply from Sept 5 (today) but it has to be confirmed whether they meant 2008 or 2009.

Minister for Fisheries Zahid Burghri said in answer to a question that the problem of deep sea fishing has been resolved as he has asked Federal Minister Nazir Muhammad Gondal to direct the federal agencies to work there.

Jam Tamachi said that all major villages in Sindh have amenity plots but they are being illegally used by the landlords. He pointed that the government should develop playgrounds and graveyards there instead.

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