Cattle pens set up on govt land

Sindh Transport and information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon informed the Sindh Assembly on Friday that around 50 acres of land of the Sindh Mass Transit and Public Transport Department has been encroached upon and converted into buffalo pens.

He alleged that the Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Shaikh has encroached upon the said property of the transport department.

“Madam, I request you to form a committee comprising opposition and treasury members to probe into the matter and get the land evacuated,” he said, addressing deputy speaker Rehana Leghari.

“The transport department has submitted a report,” Sharjeel said waving a copy of the report in his hand.

When the transport department approached the land grabbers they agreed to evacuate only six to seven acres under a deal and wanted to retain the rest of the land under their control.

GDA MPA Nand Kumar Goklani earlier raised the issue of land grabbing of the transport department in Sanghar district.

During the debate on the issue, the Leader of the Opposition and PTI MPAs were not present in the house as cases of attacks and ransacking public properties were registered against them after Imran Khan’s arrest.

Earlier, as the session started, Goklani moved his call attention motion on the rapid increase in the prices of daily-use commodities and questioned the performance of the bureau of supply and prices, which according to him is non-functional.

“Even after the bumper crop of wheat the price of flour has touched a new peak. Poor people can’t purchase milk, yogurt and fruits. The prices of daal and vegetables are out of the reach of the labour class. What action is being taken to control the prices and keep vigil on profiteers,” he asked.

Minister for parliamentary affairs, Mukesh Kumar Chawla called the inflation an international phenomenon and said that the government had taken action against profiteers who were selling commodities at exorbitant prices.

Street crimes

Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) MPA Abdul Rashid drew the attention of the house towards the rising street crimes in the city and said that 130 people have been killed in the last five months. “Around 72,000 vehicles have been stolen but the provincial government’s main focus is on the local bodies’ elections,” he said.

Responding to him, Chawla said that the Sindh government has contained the law and order in Karachi and the situation was better as compared to the situation in the recent past. “There is an issue of street crime in some areas of Karachi. Police and law enforcement agencies are working on it,” he said.

Rana Ansar of MQM asked the Sindh government minister about the budget allocated and utilized for technical education in 2022-23. “We have a large number of youth, who we have to train them with the latest vocational skills,” she said.

Minister for higher education, boards and universities Ismail Rahu responded that around Rs1.5 billion has been allocated for technical education in Sindh, but funds have not been released due to floods and rains. “Most of the development funds have been diverted for flood relief and rehabilitation after last year’s monsoon that wreaked havoc in almost all Sindh districts,” he said.

Later, the session was adjourned till Monday.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2023.