‘Sindh govt to compensate over 1,000 affected shopkeepers of Saddar’

KARACHI: The Sindh Local Government Minister, Saeed Ghani assured the Sindh Assembly on Monday that the provincial government would sympathetically look into the compensation cases of over 1,000 shopkeepers of Saddar who lost their decades old businesses in the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in Karachi.

The Local Government Minister gave the assurances while responding to a point of order raised by Opposition legislator of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Khurrum Sher Zaman. The PTI legislator said signboards of the shops in Saddar were arbitrarily removed by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation during the anti-encroachment drive as the signboards of the shops by any measure cannot be considered encroachments.

He said the affected shopkeepers of Saddar were paying taxes to KMC for these signboards for the last several years and they should not have be removed or demolished causing massive financial losses to the business owners. He said large physical damage has also being caused to the shops of Saddar in the anti encroachment drive.

Earlier speaking in the house, Saeed Ghani appreciated that all the political parties in the city are backing the anti-encroachment drive. The Sindh Local Government minister said excesses and injustices should not have been committed by the KMC.

Talking to newsmen before the commencement of the Sindh Assembly session, he said the Sindh government would constitute a committee to look into the cases of shopkeepers who were regularly paying taxes and rent to the civic agencies and have lost their livelihood as a result of the anti encroachment drive.

Saeed Ghani said the provincial government is considering a proposal to provide alternate places to these shopkeepers. Saeed Ghani said the committee in question would comprise officials of Sindh Local Government Department, KMC, and KDA.

He said that recommendations of the committee would be presented to Sindh chief minister for a final decision. Ghani assured the house that the provincial government is taking expeditious steps to overcome problem of acute water shortage in Baldia Town.

The Local Govt minister gave assurance in response to a call-attention notice on the issue by the Opposition legislator Muhammad Qasim belonging to Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan . Saeed Ghani said one of the reasons behind persistent water problem in entire District West is the virtual stoppage of water supply from Hub Dam of Karachi. He said the Karachi Water Supply and Sewerage Board is expeditiously working to build a new 24-inch diameter water pipeline for consumers in Badlia Town. He said the KWSB is working on another scheme of additional 100 MGD water supply from the Dhabeji pumping station which would be completed next year before its scheduled time.

Meanwhile in response to another call attention notice of PTI legislator Adeena Hassan, Sindh Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla informed that there are seven chest pain units of National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases at different important road intersections and were so far attended by over 100,000 emergency cases of heart patients. These chest pain units of NICVD are located in Gulshan Chowrangi, Gulabi, Malir, Qayyumabad, II Chundrigar Road, Nagan Chowrangi, and Lyari General Hospital.

Meanwhile, Sindh Parliamentary Affairs Minister introduced in the house the Government bill no 1 of 2018 the Code of Civil Procedure (Sindh Amendment) Bill-2018.