Paktia teachers long for land plots

GARDEZ (PAN department.

About 500 teachers in Gardez, the provincial capital, claimed they had been allotted plots for building homes but local residents later claimed the land belonged to them.

Bismillah, a teacher at the Tajrabawi High School, told Pajhwok Afghan News all legal procedures for the plots’ distribution had been completed and some teachers had submitted money with applications to build houses.

“But work on building homes could not be initiated,” he said, adding all teachers were demanding their money back.

Another teacher, Abdulhai Gardezi, said the government had failed to honour its promise at a time when most teachers lacked homes of their own and lived in rented houses.

Education Director Mehrabuddin Shafaq said there was a dispute over the property between local residents and the government.

The 200 acres land that belonged to the Ministry of Defence had been dedicated to teachers, but applications in this regard were yet to be submitted with the 203^rd Thunder Military Corps, Shafaq said.

Similar cases have occurred in other provinces, where thousands of acres of land have been occupied by land mafia.

About 310 acres land that belongs to the education department of southern Helmand province has been grabbed by powerful individuals.

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