Vacant pledges? ‘Sundar affected left high and dry’

Court asks for compensation details .

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday asked for details of compensation awarded to those affected in the Sundar building collapse incident by the provincial government.

Before delivering the directive, Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi said it was the misfortune of the nation to have rulers controlling national affairs from the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He said they had left it in the lurch. The judge made the remarks while hearing a petition requesting a judicial probe into the incident.

Asghar Gill, the counsel for Rana Shehzad, said he had given Rs0.5 million each in compensation to families of the 45 individuals killed in the incident. Gill said his client, the son of the deceased factory owner, had also given Rs0.1 million each to the 300 injured in the building collapse. The counsel said those affected were yet to receive the chief minister-announced compensation. Gill said district authorities were not permitting his client to remove debris strewn across the site of the incident.

Assistant Advocate General Adnan Tariq told the court that only the owner of the factory was supposed to compensate the affectees in line with the recommendations of an inquiry committee constituted to look into the factory collapse.

A Sundar Industrial Estate functionary told the court that those on the committee were away on an official tour of China. He also asked for more time on the formulation of a report into the incident.

Hearing this, Justice Qureshi said it was the misfortune of the nation to have rulers who were based abroad. While the affected were running from pillar to post, he said, national affairs were being run from London, US and Dubai.

Justice Qureshi adjourned the hearing of the petition till June 28 after asking for record of the compensation awarded by the provincial government to be furnished.

A lawyer had moved the court seeking a judicial probe into the factory collapse. He said the incident had exposed a myriad of violations of laws in its wake.

The lawyer told the court that these ranged from labour to building bylaw violations. The lawyer said the incident had also revealed the dismal condition of rescue services.

He said the many days the pertinent departments took to remove debris from the site of the incident was representative of this. The lawyer requested the court to order a judicial probe into the incident to hold those responsible accountable.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2016.