Evacuee board to take action against officials

The federal body’s chairman has also sought a list of illegally appointed employees.

PESHAWAR: The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), a federal body responsible for acquiring, holding and disposing of land for the government, has decided to collect details of employees and officials allegedly involved in land grabbing across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

ETPB Chairman Sadiqul Farooq has issued a notification to administrators and deputy administrators to take action against the department employees who are hand-in-glove with the land mafia.

Insiders told The Express Tribune the notification directs all ETPB authorities in K-P to dismiss officials involved in corruption and property grabbing. It also instructs them to prepare a list of employees who were appointed illegally.

Farooq has also sought a record of all evacuee trust properties in K-P and as well as a list of pending court cases.

However, ETPB Rent Collector in Peshawar Muhammad Abid claimed his office has not received the notification. But he added he supports the chairman’s decision.

“If any employee or officer is involved in corruption and is helping land mafia, he should be kicked out,” said Abid.

ETPB Peshawar Division’s Deputy Administrator Hamayun Khan also told The Express Tribune that he supports the decision to dismiss corrupt officials. According to Khan, around 49 kanals of the board’s land in Pir Ghaib Baba area of Peshawar has been occupied illegally and settlements including Sardarabad, Qaziabad, Ahmadabd and Shah Jee have been established.

Khan said 300 houses and 350 shops have been constructed on evacuee property in that area.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2014.