September 05, 2008	Friday	Ramazan 04, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Sept 4: The army has decided to offer its prime land in major cities for sale or long-term lease to raise funds for the establishment of its General Headquarters in Islamabad, Dawn has learnt.

The state land at present under the use of military authorities is being sold under a policy approved by the caretaker government.

The army advertised the offer in national dailies on Tuesday which said that both commercial and residential plots would be auctioned in Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore and Quetta on Sept 22.

Insiders told Dawn that the army was short of funds required for the construction of the GHQ at the foot of the Margalla Range.

An official document said: “The government of Pakistan, Ministry of Defence, offers prime land for sale/lease on a long-term basis in major cities of Pakistan. This unique offer is probably for the first and the last time that prime government land is offered for investment. The Land Disposal Cell (LDC) has been established in the GHQ to generate funds for construction and shifting of the Ministry of Defence, Joint Staff Headquarters and the GHQ to Islamabad through disposal of surplus military lands and prime properties of the army spread in the entire country.”

According to the document, all sale proceeds will be deposited with the Controller of Military Accounts (Rawalpindi Command).

A new cantonment area is being established in Islamabad following the shifting of the GHQ to sector E-10. The area will also house the already established Naval and PAF headquarters.

“Despite shifting of the GHQ from Rawalpindi, the status of Rawalpindi Cantonment Area will remain the same because the total number of employees working with defence organisations, including serving army officials and civil officers, is about 50,000 and only 10,000 will be shifted to Islamabad and the rest will continue to work in Rawalpindi,” a senior military official said.

According to the ISPR, the decision to shift the GHQ from Rawalpindi to Islamabad was first taken in March 1972 by then prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and all successive governments approved the plan.

However, efforts to set up new GHQ were stepped up because of concerns for security of former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf who inaugurated the construction work in February 2006.The new GHQ will be located in Sector E-10 and parts of Sector D-11. The area was also allocated for the GHQ in 1983.

The Capital Development Authority is reported to have sold 2,000 acres of prime land for the GHQ at a throwaway price, bearing a loss of over Rs500 billion. The land has been sold at Rs200 per sq yard while the market price is Rs110,000 to Rs120,000.