ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee for Railways on Thursday discussed in detail the issues related to illegal occupation of Railways lands by individuals in the four provinces and devised a mechanism to recover the state lands.
The meeting was chaired by Senator Fateh Muhammad Hasni here at Parliament House. The members inquired from the officials of Railways about the lands in possession of individuals in Sindh.
The railway officials told that incomplete record of land was available which made it difficult to undertake any action. Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique told the committee that land was recovered in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan but the Supreme Court decision was not being implemented in Sindh and Punjab.
He said there was no political obstruction but the bureacracy was creating hurdles for recovery of land in Punjab and Sindh.
He said Supreme Court could resolve this issue, adding Railways recovered 4400 kanal land in Wazirabad. He said that the Shalimar Hospital in Lahore was also built on Railways land and the ministry was asking for the alternative for the land taken by the hospital.
Saad said that in the past, nobody took care of the lands owned by Railways, adding the courts were issuing stay orders on land issues without hearing the viewpoint of Railways.
The chairman of the committee was of the view that illegal occupation of Railways land could affect the Pakistan China Economic Corridor.
He said the example of Railway Palm club Lahore has proved that land was also occupied during the period of dictatorship.
He said the issue of Karachi Circular Railway will be put before the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet, adding the ministry was waiting for the response of China for funding of this project.
The minister criticised National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for not going after the real corrupt people, adding the people who committed big fraud were roaming freely and told that he took a case of fraud to NAB but no progress was made in that case.
During the discussion on a political point, the minister clarified that Nawaz Sharif did not give any statement about Chaudhry Nisar.
He said the party leadership decided that Nawaz Sharif should travel on motorway instead of GT road as there were security concerns.
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