LAHORE, May 24: The Punjab government has decided to sell aircrafts of the governor and the chief minister and to buy a new one which they will jointly share.

Chief Secretary Salman Siddique told Dawn on Thursday that the government had already invited international tenders for the purpose which would be opened on June 25.

He said the existing two aircrafts would either be traded-off or auctioned. No amount had been allocated for the new aircraft, he said, adding this would be done after assessing the quoted price by the participating firms.

When asked about the reason behind the decision, he said the five-year warranty period of the existing aircrafts had been expired and they were being replaced to save their huge maintenance cost.

The chief secretary said: “Funds for the new aircraft will be allocated in the next provincial budget.”

The matter would be handled by a committee which is headed by the chief secretary.

He said the new aircraft would jointly be shared by the governor and the chief minister.