National Assembly Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping on Tuesday constituted a Sub-Committee to probe into issues of land encroachment of Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and employment of officials on discretionary quota. Meeting of the committee was held under the chair of MNA Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah in the Parliament House on Tuesday.
The committee members were given a briefing on encroachment of land of the KPT and employment of officials in the department on quota, but they were not satisfied. The issue of external audit of the KPT also came under discussion during the meeting and the committee members directed the Ministry to submit a comprehensive report on the issue.
Federal Minister Ports and Shipping Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo assured the committee that his Ministry will fully cooperate with the Sub-Committee and they are in the process of making an amendment to the law of KPT too. The Minister said that external audit is so far not a binding on the KPT, but if the Parliament passes the proposed amendments, then it will be compulsory for the department to have an external audit on annual basis.
On the issue of land grabbing, the Minister said that his Ministry would need backing of the committee to get the KPT land vacated from encroachers and the land mafia. He said the issue of land grabbing is complex and will take time to be resolved. The briefing to the committee members also included a comprehensive background on the issue of KPT's jurisdiction and extension of limits as authorized by the government from time to time.
The committee members were informed that the KPT's land was subject to encroachment and a total of 780 acres was encroached by various unauthorised parties and colonies. It was agreed that the KPT's land constituted government property and needed to be protected effectively as it was essentially needed for future projects of the port.