Jammu business group wants Rohingyas relocated

A traders' body in Jammu has sought the intervention of Governor N N Vohra to relocate the illegal Rohingya Muslim immigrants, claiming they posed a big threat to communal harmony and internal security.

The Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) made the demand in a letter it wrote to Vohra yesterday.

Deportation of Rohingya immigrants has been a long-pending demand of the chamber as it feels they are a big threat to the communal harmony and internal security, a press release quoted JCCI president Rakesh Gupta as saying.

Though the matter of deportation of Rohingya Muslims is sub-judice before the Supreme Court, the chamber requests they be concentrated in a camp before relocating them out of Jammu, he added.

In the "urgent communication" to Vohra, the JCCI also drew his attention to the pending tourism, industry and health projects in the region.

Listing various pending projects like Suchetgarh Border Tourism, artificial lake on river Tawi and Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex, Gupta said these are vital to make the winter capital's economy self-reliant.

The JCCI also sought the governor's intervention for early establishment of multi-modal logistics parks through foreign direct investment (FDI).

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the state government and Dubai Ports (DP) World in February has generated hope that it will create employment opportunities on a massive scale and allow hassle-free imports and exports for the local entrepreneurs, Gupta said.

Terming the healthcare services in Jammu worst, Gupta urged the governor to take up the AIIMS project on priority and suggested outsourcing the work for Super Specialty Hospital in Maheshpura on the lines of an MoU between the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and Narayana Hospital, the release said.

Gupta said it had been decades since the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) project worth more than Rs 129 crores was sanctioned, but it never saw the light of the day.

It speaks volumes about rampant corruption by successive governments going unquestioned, the release quoted Gupta as saying.

He urged Vohra to give the necessary orders for the completion of the STP project at the earliest, the release said.