ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has added three private members to the management committee (MG) which will run the Gandhara Heritage and Culture and Convention Centre in F-9 Citizen Club.

The citizen club, which remained under the health ministry for a couple of years as a Covid-19 vaccination centre, is currently under the use of law enforcement agencies personnel stationed in the capital as part of security for the proposed long march of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

The CDA is now planning to make the convention centre functional after getting approval of the three new names from the federal cabinet.

“Three new names have been finalised for the committee and now we will move a summary to the federal cabinet for getting approval,” said an officer of the CDA.

He said after approval of the summary, the MG will have seven members - the secretary interior, the secretary National Heritage and Culture Division, the CDA chairman, chief commissioner as ex-officio members. After the approval of the three new members, the composition of the MG will be completed.

The officer said the three private members - renowned architect Nayyar Ali Dada, Vice Chancellor Quaid-i-Azam University Dr Mohammad Ali and poet Iftikhar Arif - were already non-executive members of the CDA board.

The officer said the CDA board on Monday approved the names and decided to send a summary to the federal cabinet for approval.

The citizen club spreads over 22 acres with a 265,000 square feet covered area. The building has facilities such as restaurants, an indoor pool, gym, lobby, aerobic area and a fitness centre.

The project of the club building was started by the CDA in 2008 but when the structure was completed the Supreme Court in 2010 took up the case and ruled that the building cannot be used as a club.

In October last year, the CDA board approved rules for the centre and decided that a board of governors will manage it.

The board last year had decided that citizens can avail of the facilities but no compulsory membership will be required for it.

However, the citizen will pay against the facility they will use. According to the CDA, the centre would be used for holding conventions, exhibitions and provision of sports facilities, including a gym. Besides club facilities, the centre will have a museum depicting the Gandhara culture.

Last year, the federal cabinet had approved the formation of the MC with names of the ex-officio members and directed the CDA to also include the names of the secretary heritage and three members from the private sector in it.

According to last year’s decision of the CDA board, the centre shall also provide lifetime membership. According to the CDA documents, a revenue of Rs2.5 billion was expected to be generated from the initial lifetime membership of 5,000 patrons which will not only recoup the initial investment of Rs2 billion but will also generate an additional revenue of Rs500 million.

The centre will be opened to public initially for a one-time/lifetime membership fee of Rs500,000. A monthly subscription fee of Rs2,500 will be charged from the patrons.

The documents said the club will also be opened to public on payment of a monthly subscription fee for respective facility which included gymnasium (Rs12,000 per month), tennis (Rs5,000) and swimming (Rs5,000). Annual revenue of Rs972 million is expected from these services. The citizens will also have to make a security deposit of Rs50,000, the document said.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2022