Heaps of garbage left uncatered as Sindh LG employees’ strike enters sixth day

Protesters say leaders have always ignored them and gave them false commitments

Sindh Local Government Department employees continued their strike and lockdown of their respective offices on the sixth consecutive day (Saturday) in the entire Larkana district.

Employees burnt effigies of LG Department Secretary Syed Najam Ahmed Shah, and held protest demonstrations in Larkana, Ratodero, Naundero and other parts of the province.

They demanded the disbursement of their monthly salaries and pensions through the existing online system of district accounts offices.

Heaps of garbage were neither lifted nor were inundated roads and streets with overflowing sewage cleaned, causing serious trouble as the outdated sewage system failed to carry the hazardous wastewater in Naundero and elsewhere.

In Larkana, employees under the banner of Shah Lateef Local Government Employees Union, Sindh, and All Pakistan Local Government Workers Federation, Sindh, jointly burnt effigy of the LG Department secretary on Jinnah Bagh Chowk and held a massive protest demonstration to pressurise the rulers to accept their single demand which they called as their fundamental right.

Hafiz Mushtaque Ahmed Korejo, Rasul Bux Shahani, Abdul Hadi Markhiyani, Hafeez Bughio, Muhammad Bux Soomro and others said that Sindh LG Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah called them to Karachi for talks to resolve the issue.

They added that still, he avoided having parleys despite the direction of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, which was a highly condemnable act. They said if their just demand of paying monthly salaries and pensions through the computerised system were not accepted, their strike would continue until acceptance of their demand.

They added that this would worsen the situation and the Sindh government would be responsible for such a situation. They said that they had been protesting since 2017 for this and other demands. Still, the rulers had always ignored them and gave them false commitments, they said.

The protesters added that they decided to go on strike for an indefinite period till the demand was accepted, because they had been left with no other choice.

In Naudero and Ratodero, the protesting employees burnt the effigy of the LG Department secretary, chanted slogans and held a protest demonstration near the municipal committees.

The protesting employees warned that rulers should not forget that they needed votes in the upcoming local bodies’ election.

Protesters urged them to resolve their genuine issues forthwith and earn their blessings. Eid Gah Road in Naundero, the hometown of martyred Bhutto leaders, remained inundated and the worst affected were the shopkeepers and nearby residents.

Meanwhile, strikes were also observed in Sukkur, Hyderabad, Karachi, Kambar-Shahdadkot, Khairpur, Bhirya Road and other towns and cities of the province. Citizens of these areas faced unprecedented hardships because of the foul smell, polluted atmosphere and stagnant sewage on roads and streets.