Land allocated for industries retrieved from commercial, residential users, says minister

By Our Correspondent
August 13, 2020

The provincial minister for industries and commerce has said they have taken back the control of land “worth billions of rupees” that was allocated for industries and cooperative housing schemes but was being used for commercial or residential purposes.

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Talking to media persons in his office on Wednesday, Jam Ikramullah Dharejo, who is also the minister for the anti-corruption and cooperative department, said a big fraud had been committed in the name of housing schemes. “Thirty years have passed but no industries were ever set up on the land acquired for the industrial purpose.”

To a query, he said the federal government collected taxes but did not carry out any development work in the industrial zones of Sindh. “Gas and electricity load-shedding has made the lives industrialists miserable like others. In Sindh's industrial zones, power is cut off daily from 12:30 pm to 8:30 am and gas is cut off for 24 hours every Sunday, while complaints of low gas pressure are also common and this situation has been destroying industries in Sindh.”

The minister said industries in Sindh were being destroyed under a conspiracy so that these industries could be shifted elsewhere. “Most of the gas is produced in Sindh but Sindh is deprived of it. The gas generated from the Qadirpur gas field is not available in the surrounding areas.”

He said reforms were underway in the anti-corruption department. “Efforts are being made to train officers of the department on modern lines so they can deal with white-collar crimes better.”

The minister said he was trying to make the anti-corruption department an independent body so a full-fledged action could be taken against the corrupt elements. “PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah have instructed us to intensify action against corruption and we are making all efforts to eradicate corruption from Sindh.”

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