HYDERABAD, July 20 The district council here on Monday demanded payment of compensation to the people affected in the riots erupted here following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on Dec 27,2007.

Members debated a resolution tabled by Pervez Ranjha seeking the compensation because victims of the riots have been denied any relief despite a lapse of almost two years.

He said miscreants taking an advantage of the situation had looted shops, vehicles, banks, petrol pumps and other goods following Benazir's assassination.

“Not a single penny has been given to those who lost their properties, though they had pinned hopes on the present government for help,” he said.

Mr Ranjha said those people could be provided vehicles on loans or compensated through other ways.

Supporting the resolution, Javed Qureshi, Munawar Zai and Mohammad Ali Gohar said that while people in other districts had received something, but in Hyderabad no help had been offered.

They said that even some vendors had also lost their only source of livelihood.

Mr Gohar said Benazir Bhutto was a national asset and everyone held her in high esteem regardless of political differences. He said the federal government should form a team at provincial or district level to assess damages and compensate the victims.

Mohammad Aslam said Sindh had always produced great leaders and personalities like the Quaid-i-Azam, Liaquat Ali Khan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Altaf Hussain, but they had fallen prey to conspiracies one by one.

Rashid Khan urged the government to help the affected people like it had come to the rescue of the displaced people. The federal government should also be given compensation as had been promised after Benazir's assassination.

Dr Arif Razmi said the murder of Benazir Bhutto had been an attempt to creating anarchy and destabilising the country.

If actual amount of damages was to be disbursed, the government would have to approach IMF for a loan, he argued.

But, he said, the government needed to come up with a formula to give some respite to the riot victims.

EDO (revenue) Syed Barkat Ahmed Rizvi referred a business to the house regarding district government's plans to collect lease money against the reserved land at the National Highway and main roads where filling stations and other businesses were being run.

Abdul Waheed presented details before the house and said the district government had fixed some rates for the reserved land where nurseries had been established.

He said the land had now been handed over to the district government while earlier the taluka municipal administration (TMA) and provincial highway department had been looking after it.

He said the rates were being proposed as per provisions of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance (SLGO) 2001.

Mehboob Abro objected to it, saying that the item was not on the agenda to which he was informed by convener Zafar Ali Rajput that it was out of agenda.

He also informed the house that the district government would collect tax on hoardings, billboards and other stuff for which flyovers or district government's buildings were used. He presented details of a tariff of rates.

The member, however, insisted that details should be provided to the house on the justification of collecting lease money by the district government when the spaces pointed out were not its property.