Karachi:”The prime reason for the deteriorated and dilapidated condition of SITE Karachi has been the illegal allotment, annexation, encroachment and regularization of open drains (Nullahs). The recent rains have exposed the criminality done to majority of the industries due to the connivance of certain industrialists and the management of SITE LTD, a quasi-government body that manages industrial estates in Sindh”.
This statement was issued by the Ismail Suttar, President of Employers Federation of Pakistan after an intensified hue and cry by SITE industrialists who suffered losses of hundreds of million Rupees because either the Nullahs were no more in existence or due to narrowed drains in the grid all across the estate.
Ismail Suttar further informed that a few years ago, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of Pakistan took cognizance of this grave matter and issued a suo moto order that all such construction, whether they be due to allotment, annexation, encroachment and/or regularization must be demolished. Alas, SITE Ltd did not completely comply with the orders and hence occupiers of these Nullahs continue to maintain status quo.
EFP express its surprise that in the PKR 1.37 billion SITE Infrastructure Package approved by the Sindh Chief Minister, there is no mention of demolishment of these units built on the Nullahs. He further said that the Management of SITE Ltd has turned a blind eye to such construction as well as the proliferation of illegal kiosks, canteens, and other encroachments all over the estate.
“The Board of Directors of EFP deplores the lethargic, indifferent and unconcerned attitude of SITE Ltd in improving the infrastructure of the estate and blames the SITE Ltd for systematically destroying the first industrial estate of Pakistan whose foundation was laid by Quaid e Azam”, Suttar disclosed.
EFP president hierarchy demands that a Committee consisting of one Member of Board of Directors of EFP, one Tenant Director, Senior Vice President of SAI, Chief Engineer and Estate Engineer of SITE Ltd, plus one representative from a reputable Town Planner company and one representative from Sindh Rangers be formed to do a forensic audit of the files of all 258 such units constructed on the Nullahs to determine the responsibility of this criminal act of allowing allotment, annexation, encroachment and regularization of construction on these open drains and that it also demanded immediate compliance and implementation of the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.