KARACHI:
The Sindh Assembly passed on Monday a resolution condemning the verdict of the Lahore High Court (LHC) in the President Asif Ali Zardari’s dual office case. Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza chaired the session.
The resolution was proposed by Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Nadeem Bhutto who said that every individual had the right to elect his or her leader and the LHC decision had deprived the people and PPP activists of that right. The session was not attended by any legislators from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid or the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional.
Fiscal discipline
The assembly unanimously passed the Sindh Financial Management and Accountability Bill 2011 that aims to improve fiscal discipline. Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that the provincial assembly was supposed to enact a law on financial trade under Article 119 of the Constitution.
However, this could not be turned into legislation even though 38 years have passed. Under the act, any government official found violating the law could face imprisonment up to three years or be fined Rs1 million or both.
Human rights council
The assembly passed the Human Rights Bill 2011, becoming the first province in the country to do so. The creation of a Human Rights Commission is included in the bill, with a high court judge to serve as its president. The commission shall have its head office in Karachi, and two of its members shall be chosen from judges of the district and sessions courts.
Child protection and criminal prosecution
Sindh Minister for Social Welfare Nargis N D Khan prepared the Child Protection Authority bill and read its contents to the assembly, after which it was passed unanimously. The minister said that the bill would secure rights for children and help the government frame laws to help street children, child beggars and those forced into hard labour. The Criminal Prosecution Bill allows for the term of the prosecutor general to be fixed at three years, with the government retaining the right to extend the service by another three years.
Land grabbing
Minister for Local Government Agha Siraj Durrani said during the question-and-answer session that the police does not do its work regarding encroachments as it does not drive out land grabbers or check illegally built buildings.
Many influential builders and the land mafia are assisted by thugs who are a hurdle in retrieving the illegally occupied land. He cited the example of an official whose legs broke after a thug threw him off the top of a building. The official was employed by a building control authority and was part of a team who had gone to Saddar to recover an illegally occupied building. Legislation on land grabbing and illegal construction is needed.
The minister said that they are working on regaining the land for the Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP-4). Notices have been sent to 81 illegally constructed buildings in Sukkur.
Durrani said that the last government had allotted lands in four Karachi projects to several influential societies and individuals. Responding to a query on the K-4 project, he said that work has been hampered due to financial constraints and legal proceedings. The house was assured that all pre-partition maps, drawings and other documents for Karachi were stored in the CDGK archive department.
with further reporting from PPI
Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2011.
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