Daily Times

LAHORE: Dozens of people with plot files in Bahria Town Sector F on Thursday staged a demonstration in front of the real estate tycoon Malik Riaz’s farm house to protest delay in handing over of possession of their plots.

A large number of protesters including women gathered in front of Malik Raiz’s house and chanted slogans against him and Bahria Town management. They were also holding placards on which different slogans were written against the real estate developers.

Bahria Town administration tried to negotiate with the protesters but they failed. The protestors said that they had waited for many years but would not back down anymore until the possession of their plots was handed over to them. “We will hold country-wide protests if our grievance is not addressed in a couple of weeks,” they announced.

The protesters said that around a week ago, Bahria Town administration had promised to adjust them in other sectors but they once again failed to fulfill their commitment.

“The real face of Malik Riaz and his son has been revealed in front of the world. They have been deceiving the public for many years and tricking them into investing their hard earned money to get nothing in return. All of us have paid all our dues as per commitment but we are waiting to get possession of our plots for many years,” they said.

The protesters had made arrangements to broadcast the demonstration live on various social media platforms like Facebook.

Some plot file holders among the protesters have set up a facebook page titled Affectee of F-block to coordinate activities.

Speaking to Daily Times, the administration of the page said that they were covering the protest live on the social media to expose the true face of the real estate developer to the world. “We want others to learn a lesson from our example and stay away from his charlatan,” they said. 1

“This group has been created to raise voice for people suffering in different projects of Bahria Town. We are coordinating our activities and will decide a future course of action with mutual consent. People suffering in Sector-F, Bahria Greens and other projects are encouraged to join this platform and recommend it to other as well,” they said.

The administration further said that whatever Bahria Town had delivered so far was in the past.”It seems now they are only interested in snatching money from innocent people. They are not concerned about the loss suffered by the people. We appeal everyone who has been afftected by Bahria Town’s delaying tactics to come together to safeguard their financial interest.”

Published in Daily Times, December 22^nd 2017.