KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday approved a scheme to turn the affectees of Thar coal mining project into beneficiaries of the project by giving them share for next 30 years.
He approved this scheme while presiding over a meeting at CM House in Karachi. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon, Chairman P&D Mohammad Waseem, Principal Secretary to CM Sohail Rajput, Secretary Finance Hassan Naqvi and others.
The chief minister said that with the establishment of Thar coal mining project around 1700 villagers of the area of Thar Coal Block-II have been affected.
“We have already managed to provide them shelters, a house to each affected family, with all the basic facilities of education, health, water and sanitation,” he said and added a mosque and temple are being constructed there to practice their respective faiths.
He said that on the directives of the Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari the affectees of the area must have ownership in the project in the form of share.
“The provincial government would dilute its share to give them to the affected people,” he said.
Murad Ali Shah said that each family would receive at least Rs100,000 share each year and the amount would keep increasing.
“We have provided jobs to the affected families in the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) and even women of the area have been employed there,” he said.
It may be noted that Sindh government owns 54 percent shares in the SECMC. The mining work on the site of Block-II 1 X 1.6 kilometer is the largest mine in the country. The company has removed over burden from the mine over 90-meter deep. It means that 50 percent work has been done.
The Sindh government along with its partner, M/s engro are going to celebrate completion of 50 percent work on September 12, 2017. The jubilation would be attended by a large number of investors, national and international, notables and bureaucrats. The ceremony would be held in the mine at Block-II.
The CM said that by giving shares to the affected people of coal mining project, the PPP government in Sindh has made the history.
