April 5, 2006	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 6, 1427

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LAHORE, April 4: The Punjab cabinet on Tuesday decided to give land as provincial government’s equity to Saudi and UAE investors to build a top-class hotel on The Mall and an international sports city near the Ravi, besides approving construction of a Lahore-Sialkot motorway.

The cabinet, which met under Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, also decided to take action against manufacture and sale of spurious drugs, activate provincial and district price control committees to monitor and maintain prices of items of daily use, and to give proprietary rights to the dwellers of Lahore’s Harbanspura.

Details of the joint ventures with the foreign companies would be decided afterwards.

According to official sources, the provincial government would sign agreements with the Saudi and UAE investors for entering into joint ventures with them for the construction of the multi-billion-rupee projects of the hotel and the sports city. The government would give land for the projects and then share profits with the foreign investors, they claimed.

Sources said after agreement, the government would give 40 kanals on The Mall to Saudi Prince Talal bin Walid’s company King World Investors which would build the hotel having around 300 apartments and 450 luxury rooms.

At present, the land is a part of the GOR on which houses of Punjab assembly’s deputy speaker and some other officials are located.

The sports city would be built over 3,000 acres of Punjab land near Mehmood Booti by Sharjah’s Mr Abdur Rehman Bakhatar. The city would have international facilities for all sports like golf, tennis, football and accommodation facilities for sportsmen, allowing for holding of world events there. It would be completed in four years.

Sources said the price of the land would be determined afterwards for deciding share of the provincial government. But the Saudi firm was offering three times more than the price of the land determined by the district government, they claimed.

The Lahore-Sialkot motorway would be built by the provincial government and it would serve as an industrial corridor, also linking Sialkot’s airport and Lahore’s expo-centre with the industry.

The chief minister said the six-lane motorway between two important industrial centres of Punjab would give an impetus to economic activities in the province. It would pass through Gujranwala and would be linked with Gujrat, Wazirabad, Muridke and other industrial centres through highways.

He said the first motorway of its kind in the country could be aptly termed as Shahrah-e-Sanat and it would reduce the distance between Sialkot and Lahore to only 45 minutes. More such projects would be taken up in the province.

The chief minister said the purpose of this mega project was to facilitate export of the products grown or produced in Punjab and as such it would leave a positive impact on the country’s economy. This project would be completed during 2007.

The meeting also decided to award proprietary rights to the residents of Harbanspura. According to the decision, land would be allotted at the rate of Rs600,000 per kanal to those living on 10 marlas of land. The chief minister would give the proprietary rights to the residents at a public function to be held shortly.

Referring to manufacture and sale of spurious drugs, the chief minister ordered action on a war footing against the elements involved in the heinous trade. He ordered raids on establishments selling or manufacturing spurious drugs, and their immediate closure.

He said drug stores and pharmacies which sell bogus medicines were equally guilty. He directed the administration to ensure strict implementation of the laws regulating sale of medicines and the licenses of all such stores should be cancelled which were operating under the name of only one qualified dispenser.

He further directed that government hospitals should purchase medicines from only those firms, which guaranteed their genuineness.

Pervaiz Elahi directed the officials concerned that the price control committees be fully activated (in the province) for stabilising the prices of essential items. These committees to be headed by nazims of the districts concerned, he said, were being reconstituted and would hold their meetings daily.

He said he would personally receive reports of these bodies and monitor their performance.

Regarding provision of health facilities to the masses, the chief minister said the Punjab government was spending Rs6 billion for this purpose and the major share of the amount would be spent in rural areas.

He said owing to better facilities for the doctors serving in rural areas, the number of willing candidates had arisen manifold. He said 25 additional marks would be given in the Public Service Commission interviews to doctors having two-year service in villages.

The meeting also decided medical check-up of all schoolgoing children twice a year. The chief minister said this decision would help early diagnosis of diseases.