LAHORE: The Lahore Central Business District Development Authority (LCBDDA) has asked the Punjab government to allocate it Walton Airport’s land on a 99-year-lease instead of 30 years.

The authority had announced the auction for the lease of five commercial plots on Aug 4 in which some participants raised questions over the period of the lease, asking whether it was 30 years (extendable) lease as mentioned in the Aug 3 Board of Revenue (BoR) letter and 99 years as mentioned in the bidding documents.

“The Aug 4 auction was delayed after some bidders from Karachi couldn’t participate due to the Covid-19 restrictions. We did this with the permission of the bidders available in the auction meeting,” a senior LCBDDA official told Dawn on Friday.

“Some participants said the authority should have a clarity on the lease period. So it has written to the government to mention 99 years lease period instead of 30 years,” he explained.

Through a letter on Aug 3, the government had allocated 122 acres land of Walton Airport to the LCBDDA for a period of 30 years (extendable).

“The LCBDDA is aligned with the government vision focusing to encourage more influx towards the national exchequer, similarly, shifting the old Walton Airport from the center of the city. Such efforts will help to change the overall culture of business and investment in the country, setting our right direction to the future where we will be able to pay off our foreign loans,” claimed a spokesperson for the authority in a press release issued on Friday.

The Punjab government, he said, had given 486 acres of the state land (near Muridke) to the Civil Aviation Authority (CA) as compensation of these 122 acres. The allocated land will be treated based on the available revenue record – 52 acres under the ownership of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and 70 acres with the Punjab government.

According to the BoR’s colonies department, the land allocated to the LCBDDA would be used for the development vertical construction.

“The BoR shall conduct audit of the operations of the LCBDDA to safeguard the share of the government. Moreover, the ownership of the state land shall remain with the Punjab government as no proprietary rights shall be conferred in any case to the LCBDDA or its lessees,” reads an official notification of Aug 3.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2021