OLMT project: Litigation delaying compensation payments

Khwaja Hassaan reluctant to set a deadline for acquisition of land required for the project

LAHORE: Property disputes leading to litigation have marred the land acquisition process for the Orange Line Metro Train (OMLT) project, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The provincial government has so far acquired only about 50 per cent of the land marked for the Orange Line Metro Train (OMLT) project.

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khwaja Hassaan, who is overseeing the land acquisition process, told The Tribune that acquisition of another 10 per cent land would be completed soon. Then, he said, the project would enter the most difficult phase. There were several cases pending hearings in courts involving the remaining land marked for the metro train, he said.

Most of the disputed land along the route is located on the northern segment of the track.

Hassaan said the government was committed to completing the project in 27 months. He was, however, reluctant to set a deadline for acquisition of all land marked for the project.

In several cases, he said, there were multiple heirs to the property marked for acquisition. Some of them had obtained restraining orders from courts preventing any transaction involving the inherited property, he said.

Hassaan said under the inheritance laws consent and physical presence of all heirs was required for transfer of ownership. The Punjab Land Acquisition Act required the government to secure possession of a property before making payment for it, he said.  On complaints about demolition of properties without an advance warning, Hassaan said those who were making such claims were concealing facts. “A frequent failure among Pakistanis is to work on the eleventh hour,” he said. Before starting the land acquisition process, the government had issued three warnings to all property owners, he said.

“The government is facilitating land owners to the best of its ability. We have set up camps where claimants can approach representatives of all departments’ concerned,” he said.

About the land acquired so far, Hassaan said Rs6.5 billion had been paid for relocation and compensation. He said Rs15 billion had been set aside for the purpose.  He said the OLMT project would transform the public transport in the city. “Those opposing the project today will also benefit from it once it’s operational,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2016.