Cherat Cement Factory’s new plants

Villagers seek probe into alleged anomalies in land acquisition

NOWSHERA: The residents of 14 villages adjacent to the Cherat Cement Factory on Friday demanded probe into what they claimed were irregularities in the acquisition of land for setting up two new plants at the factory.

They also announced dissolution of the committees that were formed to fix price of the land being acquired for the factory and were supposed to negotiate extending other benefits to the local population.

The demand to probe the alleged anomalies and dissolve the committees was taken during a representative jirga of the 14 villages held here.

Awami National Party leader Shahid Khan Khattak, Pakistan People’s Party’s Pervez Khattak, Shah Zamin, Javed Khattak and others said the locals had formed the committees to negotiate and secure their rights and royalty and other issues but these were politicised with the passage of time.

They said the management of Cherat Cement Factory has decided to expand their operations and set up two new plants. They said the factory management started negotiations with these committees for land acquisition and to settle other related issues.

They alleged the vested interest members in the committees had kept the locals and landowners in the dark about the negotiations.

They claimed the elements with vested interest in connivance with the factory management fixed a very low price of the land to be acquired for the purpose and caused huge loss to the owners.

They maintained that some of the committees’ members sold the land of poor people on forged documents and pocketed millions of rupees.

They also expressed reservations about the reports that the factory was spending Rs6 million per month to provide medicines and treatment facilities to the locals at the dispensary set up by it for the local people.

They alleged that the money would definitely have gone into the pockets of the corrupt committees members. “A full-fledged hospital can be constructed and run with such a huge amount,” argued ANP’s Shahid Khan Khattak.

The jirga expressed confidence in the owners of the factory and opted for direct negotiations with them.

They said fresh committees comprising genuine representatives of the 14 villages would soon be formed with consensus to renegotiate the land prices and other issues.

They demanded market value for the land being acquired, jobs for the locals in the factory, setting up of a treatment plant to protect the locals, meadows and environment from the impact of pollutions to be caused by running the new plants and payment of royalty to the 14 villages.