PESHAWAR, June 28: After much reluctance and bureaucratic wrangling, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation on Friday surrendered the skiing resort of Malam Jabba in Swat to Tourism Corporation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a statement issued here on Friday said.

The statement said PTDC was holding billions of rupees of immovable assets in the province which it had yet to transfer to TCKP under the 18th amendment.

It said the handover of Malam Jabba retort was one small but important step in the quest for complete transfer of PTDC assets in the province.

TCKP general manager (administration and properties) Sajjad Hameed expressed the optimism that other properties would also be transferred to the province.

He described the handing over of the ownership of Malam Jabba resort a remarkable achievement and said it was yet another feather in the cap of TCKP.

Mr Hameed said nine employees of Malam Jabba resort had also been transferred to the provincial government.

On the occasion, TCKP managing director Tarik Jamil said the corporation was planning to establish a tented village on top of Malam Jabba resort to provide services and accommodation to adventure tourists.

He said the PTDC Motel was destroyed when militants held sway in Swat.

“As we are short of time and the summer season has already begun, a tented village is immediately being planned there to facilitate tourists as accommodation facilities are already very scarce,” he said.

Mr Jamil said the tented village would be operational soon after Eidul Fitr.

Provincial tourism minister Mehmood Khan, who was also in attendance, urged the federal government to accelerate the process of the transfer of the PTDC assets and liabilities on pre-devolution status on the analogue of Pakistan-Austria International Tourism Hotel Management, Department of Tourist Services and Malam Jabba resort.

He said the provincial government had allocated a reasonable amount of money for Malam Jabba development in the annual development programme for the next fiscal year and that developmental work would begin there soon.