HYDERABAD: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said the provincial government would implement the supreme court’s order for removing encroachment from the Karachi Circular Railway’s track, but the people settle there would not be displaced without alternate accommodation.
“But there is a human angle which we have to take care of,” said Shah while addressing the closing ceremony of the two-day Livestock Expo 2020 and later talking to the media here on Sunday.
“There are clear orders of the court that until we don’t provide alternate accommodation we can’t displace the people from their homes,” the CM added.
He claimed that the provincial government had been implementing the courts’ orders and would continue to do so.
Responding to a question about the posting of a new Inspector General Sindh Police to replace the incumbent IGP Dr Syed Kaleem Imam, he said the Sindh Cabinet’s decision had been conveyed to the prime minister in writing several times.
The CM expressed lack of knowledge about the expenditure incurred on organizing the festival but said the expenses were a public document and were accessible to the people.
He earlier announced that the provincial government would allocate budget for organizing an annual livestock expo in the province from fiscal 2020-21.
“I have discussed it with the livestock minister. We want to make it an annual event which can be arranged in Hyderabad, Sehwan or some other part of Sindh in the months like January and February,” Shah said.
He observed that the festival provided a learning experience to the livestock breeders from across Pakistan who attended the event.
He added that the seminars and lectures about the breeds, health issues, productivity and other livestock related matters greatly enhanced knowledge of the livestock owners.
He said both the livestock and fisheries sectors were crucial to Sindh’s economy as they contributed a major part in providing livelihoods to rural populace.
“We won’t be able to achieve the growth target if these two sectors lag behind,” he noted.
The CM expressed surprise at the swift organization of the festival telling that when the Sindh Livestock and Fisheries Minister Abdul Bari Pitafi sought his permission for the event, he thought the latter won’t be able to organize such a huge event in a short period of time.
He noticed that not only the breeders from Punjab, Balochistan, KPK and all parts of Sindh attended the festival, but the even the ministers and livestock officials of the other provinces also graced the event with their attendance.
He specially thanked Chief Minister Baluchistan, Punjab Livestock Minister and the livestock officials from the three provinces for attending the event.
“After visiting the expo, we have realized that several breeds of important livestock animals are available in Pakistan and that through their proper breeding the production of meat and milk can be increased,” he said referring to the cows.
Speaking earlier, the Sindh Livestock and Fisheries Minister Pitafi said the expo 2020 had launched a new era of the livestock policy in the province.
He said due to neglect of the agriculture and livestock department many crop varieties and breeds of the livestock could not receive the growth and development as per their potential.
“The Sindh government has decided to promote the livestock sector to the level that the country became self sustaining in the milk and meat sectors,” he told.
The minister observed that shortage of water in the river system during the last few years had dealt a blow to the agriculture sector, stressing the need of bolstering the livestock sector alternatively to support the rural economy.
Pitafi said the companies which produce fodder, medicines and different materials used in the livestock sector also put their stalls on display in the event.
According to him, 32 breeds of goats, 12 breeds of sheep and dozens of breeds of cows, buffaloes, camels and horses were brought in the festival from all provinces of Pakistan.
The Adviser to Chief Minister Balochistan on Livestock Haji Mitha Khan Kakar congratulated the organizers.
He said Pakistan was an agricultural country and livestock sector was pivotal to the growth of the rural economy.
“Strengthening the livestock sector along the modern lines will also help bring foreign investment in the sector,” he said.
He told that the Balochistan government had also organized a similar festival in the province in November 2019, adding that the positive results of the event had already started to come.
In the concluding ceremony, the breeders were also given awards.
