By Imtiaz Ali
If the proposed Sindh Protection and Prohibition of Amenity Plots Bill-2009, pertaining to the conversion of amenity plots for other purposes, is accepted and approved by Sindh Assembly in its present form, it is likely to “legalise” hundreds of acres, because it will take effect from May 3, 1994, according to concerned citizens.

The Bill also implies that plots reserved for schools, hospitals, graveyards, parks and mausoleums can be converted for use for other purposes, as the law provides to make the provincial assembly the legal forum for allowing change of land use in respect of amenity plots, they said.

Change of land use has happened in the past, especially during governor’s rule in Sindh. Passing a law with retrospective effect from a specific date of May 2, 1994, however, raises questions and suspicions regarding who will benefit from this law, said Dr Noman Ahmed of the NED University. Explanations and clarifications are therefore required to remove suspicions, he said.

A technical committee should be set up to review the matter case-by-case and recommend change of land use, he suggested, adding that the committee should comprise professionals and maintain neutrality.

Dr Ahmed said that the Sindh Assembly is a legislative body and the issue of changing land use is a technical matter, which requires technical solutions. It is the responsibility of technical bodies to decide such matters. If the provincial legislature is made a legal forum to allow change of land use in respect of amenity plots, it would make land use a “political issue”, which would be detrimental to almost all settlements in Sindh.

Former city Nazim Naimatullah Khan has asked why the proposed bill is being made applicable from May 2, 1994. “It shows that someone’s personal interests are being protected,” he said, adding that amenity plots should be protected at all times.

About making Sindh Assembly as legal forum to change land use, he said that there should not be change of land use. “When you make such provisions, then a window is being opened to convert amenity plots, and land use should not be changed. If this is adopted then you may change Gutter Baghicha and other amenity plots as well.

Amenity plots are reserved for the health and recreation of people and when you make a provision for its possible change then it is likely to be changed,” he added.

Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment (Shehri-CBE), an NGO, said that the government wants retrospect effect of the bill from May 2, 1994, because the then-governor Mehmood A. Haroon had amended the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) order of 1957 in May 1994, by inserting Section 52-A under which no amenity plot could be converted for other purposes. This section says that the use of plots for parks, schools, mosques, hospitals, playgrounds, etc. cannot be changed.

“Now the government wants to change it. It means that graveyards, mausoleums and parks can be changed into housing schemes. Who knows, Gora Qabristan might be changed into high-rise buildings through this law, as it is located on prime land,” a Shehri-CBE representative said.

He further said that parliamentary democrats came to power with the trust of the people and this is a major shift of policy which they cannot introduce before having recourse to the public. Plots reserved for graveyards, parks, public places, hospitals and schools are sacrosanct in the world. MPAs should not introduce it before going to public.

“If they want to bring this major policy shift regarding the change of land use, legislators should get the consent of their constituents since it would affect the whole province,” he said.

“It is a major policy decision since open spaces would not remain safe. MPAs should go to public and make it part of their party’s election manifesto in next elections. Opposition parties should also make it part of their election manifesto and seek reaction of their voters as to how they react when the graveyards, mausoleums, parks, schools and hospitals would be changed,” he added.

The Shehri-CBE representative further referred to the Bill as “dishonest.”

“With a retrospect effect for 15 years, it would legalise several hundred acres of prime land comprising amenity plots to be used for other purposes,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sindh Law Secretary Ghulam Nabi Shah said that it was the power of the legislature to give a retrospective effect to any law and this is not an unusual thing.

He said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law also has a retrospective effect as it was made applicable from 1985. He said that the purpose of the proposed Bill was to end the misuse of amenity plots if it had occurred in the past and to rectify the situation.

To a question as to why the assembly was being made a legal forum to change use of land policy as MPAs did not happen to be city planners, he said that legislators represent people and will take decisions in the interest of the people. “The Assembly is the legislative institution and they have the power to bring legislation for land use policy,” he added.

The proposed Bill defines an amenity plot as a “piece of land granted, earmarked, used or intended to be used for parks, gardens, playgrounds, graveyards, roads, hospitals, schools, colleges, educational institutions, both nationalized and denationalized, health institutions, reading rooms, libraries, community centers, treatment plants, power house, place for religious worship and open places kept for easement or expansion other than residential, commercial, industrial or for cottage industry”.

The Bill says that amenity plots may be converted to or utilised for any other purposes through a resolution passed by the provincial assembly.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=206368