KARACHI – The Sindh government can summon the Army to provide factory owners with security in industrial areas, claimed Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro on Thursday at the Sindh Assembly session in response to a point of order raised by MQM leader and Industries Minister Rauf Siddiqui.
Siddiqui had argued that the lives of industrialists in the SITE area were unsafe, with a businessman named Waqas also being murdered three days ago and many others receiving life threats.
“Many industrialists have started protesting, and have threatened to shut their factories in case they are not provided with protection. Many have demanded the deployment of Rangers in the SITE area,” Siddiqui said, adding that his department was working to construct a boundary wall around the industrial area to provide some sort of safety for businessmen. A meeting has also been summoned at the Governor House to discuss the law and order problem in the SITE area, he said.
Law Minister Ayaz Soomro said that police pickets have also been set up in the SITE area, and Rangers personnel are on petrol duty. “Protests are not a solution to their problem; the government can call in the Army if the industrialists want,” he said.
Earlier, Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo informed the session that the delay in plugging breaches in dykes was because the Federal government had not provided them with any funds out of the pledged Rs5 billion. “The repair work underway is because of the Rs1 billion provided to the Irrigation Department by the Sindh government,” he said.
Dharejo assured MPAs that work on the Torhi dyke would be completed within 15 days, while breaches in other embankments would be plugged within a month. He claimed that transparency would be ensured in the utilization of funds, adding that all officials of the Irrigation Department have assured him that no demands to pay commissions to contractors will be made.
