LARKANA:Sindh Local Government Department employees continued their strike and lockdown of their respective offices on sixth consecutive day in entire Larkana district, burnt effigies of Syed Najam Ahmed Shah, Secretary, LG Department, held protest demonstrations in Larkana, Ratodero, Naundero and other parts of the province demanding disbursement of their monthly salaries and pensions through the existing online system of district accounts offices.
Heaps of garbage were neither lifted, nor inundated roads and streets with overflowing sewage were cleaned nor the choked sewerage drains were cleansed causing serious troubles to the people as the outdated sewerage system failed to carry the hazardous waste water in Naundero and elsewhere.
In Larkana, employees under the banner of Shah Lateef Local Government Employees Union, Sindh and All Pakistan Local Government Workers Federation, Sindh, jointly burnt effigy of the LG Department secretary on Jinnah Bagh Chowk and held a massive protest demonstration to pressurize the rulers to accept their single demand which they called as their fundamental right. Hafiz Mushtaque Ahmed Korejo, Rasul Bux Shahani, Abdul Hadi Markhiyani, Hafeez Bughio, Muhammad Bux Soomro and others said that LG minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah called us to Karachi for talks to resolve the issue which has created lot of environmental pollution in all the cities of Sindh but he avoided to have parleys despite the direction by the PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari which is highly condemnable act.
They said if their just demand of paying monthly salaries and pensions through the computerized system is not accepted then their strike will continue till acceptance of their demand which will further aggravate and worsen the already worsened situation and the Sindh Government will be only responsible for such a situation. They said they are protesting since 2017 for this demand and resolution of other demands but the rulers have always ignored them and kept us on false and concocted commitments due to which they decided to go on strike for an indefinite period till the demand is accepted because no other way was left for us, they added.
In Naundero and Ratodero also the protesting employees burnt the effigy of the LG Department secretary, chanted slogans and held a protest demonstration near the municipal committees. The protesting employees warned that rulers should not forget that they need our votes as well in the upcoming local bodies election hence urged them to resolve their genuine issue forthwith and earn their blessings. Eid Gah Road in Naundero remained inundated and worst affected were the shopkeepers and nearby residents.
Meanwhile, strikes were also observed in Sukkur, Hyderabad, Karachi, Kambar-Shahdadkot, Khairpur, Bhirya Road and other towns and cities of the province and the citizens of these areas faced unprecedented hardships because of the bad smell, worst polluted atmosphere and stagnant sewage on roads and streets.