KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly was on Monday informed that there were some protected buildings in the province, including Jinnah Courts and the building of the Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry, which housed government offices.

Furnishing a statement and answering the written and verbal queries of the lawmakers in the provincial assembly during Question Hour, Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Minister Syed Sardar Shah said that the provincial government had not formally made any move to get back the possession of Jinnah Courts.

To a written question asked by Grand Democratic Alliance’s Arif Jatoi, he said that Jinnah Courts was built between June 1922 and June 1933.

The minister said that the building was protected under the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act of 1994 and was property of the Sindh culture department.

A heritage building that houses SC’s Karachi Registry would be turned into a museum

He said that the Jinnah Courts had been constructed by receiving donations from the people as well as local bodies of the province to provide residential facilities to the students who came from across the province to pursue their education in Karachi.

Mr Shah said that the hostel remained a place of high importance during the Pakistan Movement and Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah also visited it.

He said that the building was originally named as Leslie Wilson Muslim Hostel and was later named after the father of the nation after independence.

The minister said that building was transferred to the culture department in 1986 and the Rangers shifted their headquarters to the Jinnah Courts on a “temporary” basis in 1999.

Victoria Museum

He said that the building housing the Karachi Registry of the apex court was meant to house a museum known as “Victoria and Albert Museum”. He said that the building was originally built in 1887 during the reign of Queen Victoria for the museum.

The minister said that the museum would be housed in the building once it was returned to the provincial government after the shifting of the Karachi Registry to its new location.

To another question, he said that there was a resort at the Keenjhar Lake containing 24 huts and a restaurant where a number of visitors availed themselves of the facilities.

He said that 4,000 to 5,000 people had availed the facility of huts.

To a supplementary question, the minister admitted that a ministerial hut and three other huts were meant for government officers.

He said that 12 more huts were being constructed at the resort and they would be ready for use in the next few months.

To a question, asked by opposition member Arsalan Taj, the minister said that the culture department was providing financial support to the needy writers, poets and artists in the shape of endowment funds as well as stipends.

He also gave the breakup of last five years and said that Rs20.237 million was distributed among 179 beneficiaries under the endowment fund.

Besides, he said that Rs24.72m was distributed among 824 beneficiaries as stipends.

In reply to a question posed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf lawmaker Khurram Sher Zaman, the minister said that the bamboo huts within the buffer zone of the World Heritage Site — Makli necropolis — were built by the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan for conservation works and community engagement.

He said the bamboo huts would be removed as and when conservation work on the site was completed.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2019