Hattar Economic Zone: Landowners oppose acquisition of agricultural land for HEZ

Threaten to continue protests till section 4 of land acquisition act is withdrawn

HARIPUR:

Landowners of various villages in Khanpur opposed the government’s plan to acquire their agricultural land for Phase VII of Hattar Economic Zone (HEZ). They threatened to resist the decision at every cost.

Talking to media outside the office of Haripur Deputy Commissioner Tasleem Khan on Tuesday, Malik Asif, Malik Zahid, Mushtaq and others said the provincial government imposed Section 4 of Land Acquisition Act, 1969 in Hattar, Chak Muneem, Bandi Muneem, Bandi Gulu and Islam Pur villages. Through this, the government barred all purchase and sale of land in these areas.

Landowners protested outside Tasleem’s office, demanding the cancellation and withdrawal of the recently imposed act. The DC assured them the matter will be taken up with the provincial government.

Hattar Economic Zone part of new chapter in economic development: CM

Bone of contention

According to the plan, the government will acquire 1,000 acres of land from these five villages for Phase VII of HEZ. The landowners said their livelihood depended on that land and they were unwilling to give it up.

The government had already acquired thousands of acres of land from neighbouring villages since the early eighties till the last few years, depriving them of their sources of income, said the landowners. They said the new acquisition will have negative implications on their economic conditions.

“The existing industrial units of HEZ for which our ancestors sacrificed their lands have not given us any reward; they polluted the environment with hazardous emissions, exposing people and the ecology of the area to various kinds of harm,” Mushtaq said. He was pointing towards dust and waste discharge from a cement plant of a known manufacturing firm in Hattar. He said when the government acquired land for HEZ, formerly known as Hattar Industrial Estate, it made tall promises to change the socio-economic conditions of locals but those were never fulfilled.

Talking to the media, Zahid said, “Now the government is out to steal our precious agricultural land where we grow crops not only to fulfill our own food requirement but also sell surplus grains to make a living.” He added the government must acquire arid land for this purpose because given the pace of land acquisition, the region will soon face food shortages.

“We will start depending on imports if this continues,” said Zahid. He added villagers will resist the decision of the government and continue to protest until Section 4 of Land Acquisition Act, 1969 is withdrawn.

When contacted, the Haripur DC was not available for comments. However, one of his colleagues dealing with land acquisition confirmed the imposition of section 4 in five villages in Khanpur.

The aims

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa launched K-P Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) in 2015 in order to accelerate industrialisation along the route of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The government has already acquired 424 acres of land at the cost of Rs379 million to develop Phase VII of HEZ while another 1,000 acres of land was in the process of being acquired.

During the inauguration of HEZ on December 15, 2015, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak told participants the provincial government, through KPEZDMC, was offering a one-window operation facility to investors – from plot purchasing to getting access to utilities like gas and electricity.

Urging both foreign and local investors to set up industries at HEZ, the CM said the government was going to offer them 5% discount on their capital mark up, 25% discount on land purchase process and a five-year income tax holiday for industries established before September 2018. He said the new industrial policy will help the provincial government create 2 million new job opportunities.

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