Opposition files motion in Senate: Allotment of land for GHQ
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: The opposition has submitted an adjournment motion to the Senate against allotment of 870 acres additional land to the military authorities for setting up of General Headquarters (GHQ) in E-10 sector in the federal capital.
The motion has been filed by PPP senators Farhatullah Babar and Enver Baig. Talking to Dawn on Sunday, Senator Farhatullah Babar said: "This time the issue has be raised in the Upper House. It was raised in the Lower House before Eid, but the adjournment motion was killed without any discussion."
Now the motion has been filed in the Senate, he said. Mr Babar hoped that this time it would be difficult for the government to suppress the issue because other opposition leaders had agreed to sign the motion and raise it more rigorously.
In the adjournment motion, the opposition expressed resentment over allotment of 870 acres of prime land to the military authorities at a throwaway price. The motion says by allotting this land at a price far less than the market rate, a loss of over Rs500 billion has been inflicted on the CDA, therefore, the Senate should suspend normal business and take up this issue.
The motion said: "The land falls in the area of the National Park Zone-III, which under the master plan cannot be sold or purchased or used for construction purposes." The two senators were of the view that any construction in the national park zone would damage the environment.
Besides, land owned by the CDA, being public property, could not be sold in a manner which caused such a colossal loss to the people. They said additional land had been sold for construction of the GHQ at Rs200 per square yard against the market value of over Rs110,000 per square yard.
The CDA had previously allotted some 1,400 acres in E-10 sector for the GHQ Complex whose construction was formally inaugurated by President Gen Pervez Musharraf. The 870 acres given for the GHQ, however, is in addition to E-10 sector already allotted by the CDA for the purpose.
According to the CDA, additional land was only needed for the security of the premises (GHQ). It was of the view that it would not develop the land which fell in Zone-III.
It said the GHQ was offered land much earlier on the directives of the government and the price of the land had been settled in line with the rate charged from other government departments and institutions which had to pay much lower than the commercial/auction value.
Meanwhile, a source in the CDA said at a recent auction of plots conducted by the CDA, land in sector F-10 Markaz, located besides the site for the GHQ, was sold at a rate of Rs110,000 to Rs120,000 per sq yard.
According to market rate the cost of 870 acres is stated to be Rs505.296 billion. However, it was provided to the military authorities for Rs842 million. The source said 1,400 acres already allotted for the construction of the GHQ was sold at a rate of Rs184 per sq yard.
He said some of the additional land of 870 acres fell in the National Park Area which could not be sold or purchased or used for any construction. The CDA, he said, had shown its inability to the military authorities to get additional land vacated from villagers of Chauntra. The village falls in the additional land provided for the GHQ.
It is feared that about 3,500 residential units in Chauntra village would be removed without giving any compensation to their inhabitants. According to military authorities, after 1965 war, the decision was taken to co-locate the services headquarters in Islamabad.
Pakistan Navy had been given priority as it had to shift from Karachi followed by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) which shifted from Peshawar. The navy has completed the construction of its offices and residential accommodation whereas the PAF is in the process of doing so.
The army took the decision to start its shifting in March 2000, but because of changes in the regional and global environment, it remained pending, the authorities said.
