SHC questions allotment of Sukkur Labour City flats

SUKKUR:

The Sindh High Court's Sukkur bench on Thursday adjourned the hearing of a petition challenging the alleged allotment of a majority of the 1,024 flats in Sukkur Labour City to ineligible beneficiaries.

The hearing was adjourned after the counsel for the petitioners, Advocate Wajid Shaikh, rejected a report submitted by the district administration, describing it as an attempt to cover up alleged irregularities in the allotment process. Representing petitioners Shahzad Mughal, Irfan Khoso and others, Advocate Shaikh reiterated that 581 flats had allegedly been allotted to suspicious or ineligible persons, while several others were reportedly occupied forcibly with the alleged connivance of labour department officials. He called for a transparent verification process to be conducted by officials who had no direct or indirect involvement in the original allotments.

Advocate Shaikh alleged that deserving labourers had been deliberately deprived of the flats and claimed that some units were allotted on the basis of bribes or recommendations from influential individuals. He warned that around Rs2 billion in taxpayers' money could go to waste if the project failed to benefit its intended beneficiaries.