LAHORE: Land grabbers have grabbed at least 2,200 acres of land belonging to Federal Board of Revenue out of 4,000 acres in Karachi at the Hawks Bay in connivance with the Board’s top officials while the grabbers are planning to grasp remaining 1,800 acres in due course. The land was allocated to the then Central Board of Revenue at the time of division in 1947.
This was disclosed by Federal Revenue Alliance Employees Union CBA FBR Central President Mian Abdul Qayoom on the other day.
The president of FBR employees union urged the government to distribute the remaining 1,800 acres among the employees of the board lest the grabbers should not clinch the valuable land.
He said that the employees of the board have been struggling to collect the important revenue to meet the expenditures of the whole country. However, it’s the employees who have been deprived of the basic human needs including housing, transport facility, medical complexes, and education for their children.
He said that FBR is a total profit-making organization as compared to other governmental institutions but these institutions have their own medical complexes, housing schemes and educational institutes despite they have been suffering from heavy losses.
In an answer a question, the union president said that investigations into land matters will surely reveal the criminal negligence and involvement of those FBR officers who became billionaires during their tenures.
“It is impossible for the grabbers to seal FBR’s 2,200 acre land without the due involvement of the FBR high-ups,” he disclosed, adding that investigation can bring to light many hidden names.
The FBR Union president also informed that the Board also possesses land in other parts of the country including Lahore, Sheikhupura and Quetta.
While talking about many other difficulties of the FBR employees, the FBR union president demanded of the authorities concerned to provide the workforce with equipment to discharge their assignments efficiently.
He also resented that FBR inspectors have been playing vital role in collecting valuable revenue but they have been seldom promoted in the last 28-30 years.
“We have only one medical complex, Sheikh Zayd Hospital for the whole region. Our employees belong to far flung areas and they have to come to the hospital for treatment after covering a long distance,” Mian Qayoom said, adding that we have no hospitals in Sukkur, Multan, Kasur or Bahawalpur for FBR employees.
“There should be FBR medical complexes in these cities so the workers from lower cadre could get the facility near their dwellings,” he demanded.
