|
|
|
| July 31, 2007 | Tuesday | Rajab 15, 1428 |
KARACHI: Grey areas in Sindh’s land utilisation policy
KARACHI, July 30: In almost one and a half years since it issued a revised policy, the land utilisation department of the Sindh government has not sold any piece of land in auctions.
The third clause of the extraordinary notification of February 25, 2006 that supersedes all the previous notifications for grant of state land for non-agricultural purposes on lease up to 99 years, clearly states: “No land shall be disposed off for commercial purpose except by open auction at a price not less than the market price”.
But Dawn has learned through sources that the matter is still under consideration by the land utilisation department that receives millions of applications for allotment of land for all purposes.
Commenting on the revised policy, Shehri chairperson Roland de Souza says that the old policy issued in 1999 was a tighter one.
“According to it, land for all purposes and not just for commercial use was to be allotted through auctions but they have changed that in the new policy.”
But why change the policy when auctioning off land will no doubt help the province generate more revenue?
According to a former member of the land utilisation department of the Sindh Board of Revenue (BOR), who wants to remain anonymous, the new policy had been well-thought-out and was without any grey areas.
He said: “The market prices of the land available for allotment are just too high for it to be auctioned now. That is why the old policy of 1999, where land in all categories was to be auctioned, had to be revised.”
The portfolio of the revenue department lies with the Sindh Chief Minister, Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim. As in all cases, the government has the absolute discretion in the selection of lessees. According to well-placed sources in the BOR, there is a standard procedure for the allotment of land. An application sent to the chief minister is forwarded to the BOR which appoints an executive district officer (EDO) to prepare his report keeping in consideration the land available in the proposed area. This along with a site plan of the area is sent back to the BOR.
The rates are fixed according to the area locations; the categories include ‘A-1’, ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’. This has already been carried out by the price committee, appointed under Condition No. 8 (1) (a) of the new policy. Among other things, the committee proposes prices after taking into consideration the price of land transferred in the same area for similar use during the past year or so.
The price fixation is followed by the submission of recommendations to the scrutiny committee which carries out its own inquiries. The scrutiny committee comprises six government members of the BOR, including a senior member as convener, secretaries of the LU, finance, and the department concerned (depending on the purpose of land use), chairman of the CM Secretariat’s Investment Cell and two private members, representatives of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The scrutiny committee thereafter makes recommendations to the chief minister and after making a few further inquires on the chief minister’s direction, the lease agreement can be signed by a district officer on behalf of the government along with the applicant. Under the new policy, the lease agreement prescribed by the land utilisation department is stamped and registered by the lessee at his own cost.
But the scrutiny committee, according to Mr de Souza, “is the modern equivalent of the jagir committee of the British, authorised to give out parcels of land to friends and well-wishers.”
Even though the new policy clearly defines the various purposes of land use such as industrial purpose as “(a) a cottage, small, medium and large industry or (b) an industrial estate or (c) an information technology park or (d) tourism activities including hotels and offer lodgings of land” and residential-cum-commercial purpose as “use of land for construction of flats, shops and private or public offices”, there is no clear definition as such provided for ‘commercial purpose’, which is the only category where land can be disposed of in auctions. Land for ‘residential’ purpose is for not less than 25 to 50 per cent of the market price and for ‘residential cum commercial’ purposes at a price not less than 75 per cent of the market price.
According to a statement issued by the Board of Revenue, Sindh, with the exception of 600 acres of land allotted to the UAE Ambassador Ali Muhammad Al-Shamsi for the construction of a complex in August 2006, land has only been allotted for industrial and educational purposes under the new policy so far and that too at a price much less than its real market value. This amounts to some 15 allotments including the 1,326 acres in un-surveyed Gharo in District Thatta for the Port Qasim Authority and 500 acres for the Aga Khan University Faculty of Arts & Sciences in Deh Chuhar in December, 2006.
The land utilisation epartment has a fairly long procedure for the allotment of lands. Ninety per cent of land allotments are carried out in Karachi alone, followed by Hyderabad and Thatta.
|
|
|
|
