Lyari Expressway project: Meeting ordered to end compensation battle

Funds not being distributed due to financial crunch, submits DAG.

KARACHI: A constitutional petition was filed by six people displaced by the Lyari Expressway project, in the Abdullah Palari Goth, Shershah, Sohrab Goth and Village Pir Bux areas. They have maintained that despite court orders, they are still waiting for “appropriate compensation”.

A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Musheer Alam and Justice Syed Zakir Hussain ordered on Friday a joint meeting of all stakeholders of the Lyari Expressway project to make proposals, modalities for the release of funds to be paid to the displaced people.

When the petition came up for hearing, Deputy Attorney-General Nazar Akbar filed comments on behalf of the federal finance ministry. According to the comments, the entire cost of the project was to be borne by the federal and provincial governments - 64 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.

The court was informed that only 25 per cent of the amount had been released by the federal government till December 2009 to Sindh and due to the financial crunch, funds are not being released on time.

The bench noted that there was nothing on record to show the provincial government’s financial contribution to the project.

The bench ordered that since a large number of people were suffering because of the tug of war between the Sindh and city district governments, nominees of the local government secretary, the ministry of finance, DO revenue and Lyari Expressway Rehabilitation Project director should meet to fix the problem.

The bench also ordered that the meeting shall be presided over by a nominee of the finance ministry and shall be hosted by the project director.

The bench indefinitely adjourned the hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2011.