MoU on Bundal Island desalination plant: SHC seeks federal govt's reply

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday sought from the federal government its reply on the memorandum of understanding (MoU) it had signed for a desalination plant on Bundal Island.

A division bench of the SHC, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, ordered the federal government for its reply on a petition which was filed against the MoU signed with a foreign country for installation of a desalination plant.

The petitioner pleaded that the attorney had earlier assured the court that all the stakeholders would be taken into confidence over any development on the islands.

"The federal government has summoned tenders for construction activities and signed an MoU for installation of a desalination plant at Bundal Island," the petitioner said.

"The government's issuance of tender and MoU signing for desalination plant is a matter of concern as Sindh Government was not taken on board," the petitioner stated.

"Attorney General explicitly stated that only environmental survey is being conducted," the additional attorney general informed the court.

"Attorney General had assured that no work took place on islands without keeping the government of Sindh in loop," the court observed. "You are signing agreements and will say tomorrow that these are international agreements and nothing could be done now," the bench further remarked.

The additional advocate-general of Sindh told the court that the provincial government had not been taken into confidence over the MoU.

The court approved the petition for hearing and issued a notice to the federal government seeking its reply by January 15 over the desalination plant agreement.

The petitioner stated in the court that the ordinance promulgated by President Dr. Arif Alvi on August 30 was illegal and unconstitutional and the federal government couldn't undertake projects on the islands, Bundal and Buddo, along the coast of Karachi, which falls within the territorial jurisdiction of the Sindh province.

The petitioner prayed the court to declare the ordinance unlawful and unconstitutional.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020