School building: Protest against land-grab

Protesters said that they had been filing complaints, but no action had been taken against the grabbers.

HAFIZABAD: Several residents of Bhaka Bhatian protested on Friday against a landlord who they said was illegally occupying a school building and using it as a warehouse. The protesters said that they had been filing complaints with the Education Department, but no action had been taken against the grabbers. They said that the Government Boys Primary School was set up a few years ago and more than 100 children from the village were enrolled there. Within a year, they said, the grabbers occupied the building depriving the children from a facility in their area. They said while some children had joined schools in other villages, most parents could not afford to send their children a long distance. Executive District Officer (Education) Iqbal Naeed told The Express Tribune that the department was planning a strategy. He said the occupants would soon be removed from the building.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2013.