The staff and brokers at the Land Management Department (LMD) of City District Government Karachi (CDGK) are fleecing the people who come to the department for solving their problems like transfer of property etc. People mostly have to bribe LMD officials or brokers, to have their work done in time, sources at Civic Center told Business Recorder on Tuesday.
"I could not solve my problem of transferring property for the last one year and I am repeatedly visiting the department but the staffers here do not care about the poor people like me", A man who had come to the department from new Karachi said. He said that he was demanded Rs 25,000 by a broker when he had first visited the department for solving his problem within a week but due to his inability to afford the demand, the problem was still as it was, after lapse of one year.
"The staff never listen to the poor people even after being requested humbly. After the death of my husband I just wanted to transfer the property into my children's names but I failed to do so as I lack enough money to give to these brokers and staffers," an old women who had come from North Nazimabad said.
There are brokers sitting at every entrance of the offices of the department to cheat the visitors rather than any helper to guide and assist them, she added. "I request Mustafa Kamal, City Nazim, to take action against the brokers who are responsible for malpractice of the officials here," said another visitor at the department.
However, according to some official sources the transfer of property is a sensitive issue and the officials have to do the job consciously. It takes time to properly investigate and ensure that the applicant is true by all means.
"We have faced many cases of the property transfer as some people knowingly do not show the names of their children specially the girls to avoid distribution of the property and when the deceived come to know, the staff has to face the summons," they added.
The delay in handling the issue of transferring property, they said, was due to proper investigation and scrutiny of documents. Interestingly, the sources also complained about brokers who were a big obstacle in the smooth handling of daily business.