ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi has announced that Islamabad will soon have a cricket stadium of its own, and that the PCB is all set to begin full-scale construction on the project.

“We will restart construction within six months and will try to complete the stadium quickly,” Sethi said, and added that Pakistan has a bright and secure future since joining hands with the ‘Big Three’.

Sethi was speaking an at Iftar dinner hosted by the Islamabad Cricket Association in his honour, for successfully fighting on Pakistan’s behalf with the International Cricket Council, after Pakistan was left adrift when former chairman Zaka Ashraf chose not to accept the ‘Big Three’.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has allotted land to the PCB free of cost. According to the plan, the stadium will accommodate 50,000 spectators.

The land falls within the National Park Area at Shakarparian.

After getting possession, the PCB began construction with a boundary wall and a small site office. However, construction was interrupted when the CDA asked for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report on the project.

A senior PCB official said all issues, including the EIA, have been resolved.

“We have completed all legal formalities. In the six month period, the first phase of work will be completed, at least,” he said.

Talking to Dawn, Islamabad Regional President Shakil Sheikh said the PCB would complete the first phase of the project in the next six months.

“We will try to have it ready for domestic cricket, at least,” he said.

The CDA handed over 35 acres to the PCB in June 2012 for the construction of the stadium. Under the agreement, the CDA will receive 30 per cent of the income generated by the stadium.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd , 2014