FAISALABAD, Dec 9: The Tehsil Municipal Administration (city) has decided to lease out its properties for commercial purposes after constructing plazas on these lands.

The decision was taken at a TMA session held here on Thursday with Naib Nazim Ilyas Ansari in the chair.

The house was informed that the precious land was available with the TMA which had been marked for sale a few years ago. In this scenario, these properties should be leased out to the people and plazas be developed with the money taken as advance from the parties concerned.

After a heated debate, the Naib Nazim presented the resolution before the house in this regard which was approved. The properties worth Rs300 million had not been sold for the last six years due to the alleged negligence of the TMA high-ups.

The Punjab government as a special case in August, 1998, had transferred ownership rights of various properties to the defunct Faisalabad Municipal Corporation enabling the organization to overcome its liabilities and resources for initiating uplift projects.

The FMC pinpointed 19 properties situated in different parts of the city, and announced that the same would be auctioned. It also called bids, but the process could not be completed for a number of reasons.

In the meantime, the FMC was converted into the TMA (city) in the wake of devolution of power plan in 2001. It could not make any headway in this regard due to a slow follow-up and inaction of its functionaries.

About a year ago, the TMA approved a plan to sell the properties and sought a formal approval from the Punjab government. The permission was granted a couple of months ago.

Now a resolution has been passed for leasing out these properties after constructing plazas on them which is undoubtedly not only a lengthy process, but will also open the doors of corruption and favouritism.