Mustafa Kamal reaches anti corruption office in 'china cutting' case

KARACHI: Chairman Pak Sarzameen Party Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday arrived at the Anti-Corruption office in connection to the case regarding illegal allotment of land during his mayorship.

Kamal is facing charges of illegally allotting 1,200 plots of land on 82 acres in Karachi’s Mehmoodabad area allocated for a sewage treatment plant. The report accuses him of conducting ‘china cutting’ of the land.

The AC department prepared a questionnaire for Kamal and sought his response in the case.

The inquiry of Anti-Corruption Department revealed in Nov 2017 that Kamal allotted state land by misusing his powers and in contravention of rules.

In January this year, the local government secretary informed the Supreme Court that the government had decided to launch an investigation into illegal allotment of the land reserved for sewage treatment plant in city’s Mehmoodabad area.

According to a report submitted to the apex court, around 1,300 plots were carved out of the land, which were allotted for resettlement of the affectees of the Preedy Street project. In 2008, the city council had adopted a resolution for allotment of the land to the affected people, it said.

Though the original document regarding the allotment was missing, a copy of it highlighted that it was former mayor Mustafa Kamal who issued directives for the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) to allot the land.

The report said the matter had been referred to the chief secretary to give his consent for sending it to anti-corruption establishment for an investigation.

It pointed out that the land earmarked for setting up a sewage treatment plant in Mehmoodabad was illegally allotted in violation of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) laws.