KARACHI: The commercial activities of container terminals and yards on the land of Karachi Port Trust (KPT) are said to have been affected by land grabbers in West and East Wharfs areas of the metropolis.
KPT located in Keamari district of the megacity has huge swathes of land, leased to private terminal and container yard operators for carrying out commercial activities.
However, the land grabbers, active in the area, have been eyeing these precious lands and using various tactics to irk operators of these terminals and yards by creating hurdles in their way.
“It seems land grabbers have gotten a free hand and they have no fear of law and they are encroaching the lands or the ways leading towards to terminals and yards to make the access and approaching roads narrow,” sources in the port sector said.
According to them, the land grabbers have been carrying out their illegal activities for a quite long time and have not been deterred because of inaction on part of authorities, which are mandated to take the appropriate action.
On its part, KPT management is fully alive to the situation and has been struggling and fighting to retrieve its encroached lands, as well as, to clear the arteries leading to terminals and yards, established on its land.
However, KPT has limitations and it can’t act like a law enforcing agency to establish its writ through stick and gun. ‘Ultimately, the ball goes into the court of local police, which shows leniency towards the grabbers or its hands are tied to take stern action against the land encroachers,’ they said.
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Port sector sources said that solution lies with empowering KPT to have legal powers for appropriate action or it should be bestowed with magisterial powers to give the legal decision on the area within its jurisdiction to discourage the encroachment on its land.
They said that the operators of terminals and yards are disheartened on this state of affairs and noted that how would one be motivated to invest more in country when there is constant threat of land grabbing.
‘The foreign investment can’t be attracted when even local entrepreneurs are in a quandary as how to survive and work in this sort of terrible situation,’ they said.
Meanwhile, KPT has decided to launch operation against land mafia in Keamari district.
According to the sources, the operation would be launched to retrieve the KPT land from land grabbers, and Port Security Force has sought the police force from SSP Keamari.
The operation would be conducted in Ghas Bandar and adjacent areas of Keamari, as well as, Docks area. The operation is expected to be kicked off on November 21, 2022 (today).
According to sources, the market value of encroached land of KPT comes to billions of rupees.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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