‘Jirga’ to resolve Sector G-14 allotments
To resolve the long-pending issue of paying landowners and retrieving land in two sub-sectors of Sector G-14, developing it and then providing it to allottees, a jirga led by parliamentarians will be held.
This was disclosed during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Housing and Works which was held at the Parliament House on Friday.
Led by committee chairman Senator Mir Kabir Shahi, the panel reviewed the budget of the housing ministry. It also heard about the issue of plots in Sector G-14 after it was raised by Senator Bahramand Tangi.
The committee was briefed that some illegal occupants were creating problems in Sector G-14/1. While the matter had been raised in court, the court had ruled against them.
Subsequently, the Capital Development Authority (CDA), the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration and the police conducted a joint operation against these illegal land occupiers on June 30, 2020.
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However, the illegal occupants allegedly attacked the anti-encroachment staff, injuring four employees apart from damaging official vehicles and machinery. A first information report (FIR) was registered against these illegal occupiers, the panel was told.
To resolve the issue, the panel was told that the housing ministry is ready to pay the concerned allottees. Moreover, a jirga headed by members of the national assembly will be convened soon to resolve the issue peacefully. At this, Shahi stressed that the rightful landowners should be paid their dues, adding that it is better than the matter is resolved amicably.
He further directed that a report should be provided to the committee on the matter at its next meeting.
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The committee also reviewed the budget for the housing and works ministry and its subsidiaries for the financial year 2020-21.
Senator Shahi said that due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, meetings of parliamentary committees could not be held. He added that now that the committee was convening after a gap of five months to review the budget, the ministry had just sent a one-page brief. The committee chairman added that there are projects worth billions listed in the PSDP but the brief neither shows the projects nor are the details of the budget clear.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 18th, 2020.