ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has sold the land on which the Jinnah Convention Centre stands to the Ministry of Interior, paving the way for the building to be privatised.

Sources in the CDA said that the authority issued an allotment letter for 7.59 acres of land to the ministry after receiving Rs1.14 billion.

The allotment letter, available with Dawn, is dated July 5. It states that the authority has been paid the total premium of “Rs1,140,309,760”, adding: “It has been decided to confirm the allotment of subject land measuring 7.59 acres.”

The land will be leased on a 33-year basis, extendable for two subsequent terms of 33 years each on terms and conditions that may be prescribed by the authority.

The Convention Centre is located at one end of Constitution Avenue, and is used as a venue for exhibitions and summits by public and private sector organisations. It is currently under the CDA’s administrative control.

Authority issued allotment letter a few days ago after receiving payment for the land, paving the way for the centre to be privatised

Officials from the authority said a cabinet committee on privatisation has been working on this building, which was originally built by the federal government and not the CDA.

Sources said the CDA has been opposing the privatisation, saying that although the government built the centre, it was built on CDA land.

The CDA had said that if the government wanted to privatise the building it would have to pay the CDA to allot the land in the government’s favour.

Now that the government has paid and received the allotment, this will pave the way for the building to be privatised, they said.

The Convention Centre was built in 1996 with bridge financing; the CDA funded the construction and was reimbursed by the government.

The land on which the building stood still belonged to the CDA.

CDA officials said that the property was allotted to the Cabinet Division subject to the fulfilment of formalities such as obtaining approval from the prime minister and paying the CDA for the land.

These formalities were not fulfilled, because of which the building could not be privatised.

The last PML-N government had also tried to privatise the building, but was unsuccessful.

The PTI government later included it on its list of properties to privatise.

Official sources said the property has potential. There is no litigation over the land, and potential buyers could be given 100pc of its share in a single day.

When contacted, CDA spokesperson Syed Safdar Ali confirmed that the land was allotted to the interior ministry, saying: “We issued the allotment letter after receiving payment a few days ago.”

When asked if this step was taken to privatise the building, he said: “We have nothing to do with privatisation. The building was constructed by the federal government, but the land where the building stands still belonged to the CDA.”

The land now belongs to the interior ministry, he said.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2019