PUL-I-ALAM (SW): Hundreds of protesters on Sunday blocked the Khost – Logar highway during a protest demonstration against a government plan of developing a township in the province.
Members of the Banozay tribe allege the government for encroaching upon 3250 jeribs of their ancestral land, demolishing their homes and trying to develop a township for government employees. Members of this tribe residing in the provincial capital blocked the main highway today in protest.
A day earlier, the government formally announced to develop a township here for the public sector employees, a move that irked the locals. The protesters said they possess old legal documents to prove their claim over the property. One of the protesting tribal elders said up to thirty thousand people are residing on the property the government is aiming to vacate and develop township on. Another protester told Salam Watandar the locals have been farming on this land for decades, and President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani should help resolve their concerns.
Meanwhile, the provincial administration claims based on surveys, the Banozay tribe is only entitled to 177 jeribs of land, but is claiming more than that. Shamim Katawazay, provincial governor, has said all rights of the deserving people would be protected. “We would compensate them with whatever the rules and regulations suggest, be it monetary or in form of another property”.
According to the provincial administration, residential units among the martyrs of the security forces, and other public sector employees such as teachers would be distributed in the township planned to be developed here.
ENDS
