ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: The government is considering granting the request of Marriott’s management for the adjacent piece of land to secure the hotel which was struck by a suicide truck bomber last month, leaving at least 55 people dead.
“The government has given us hope of providing the plot,” the owner of the luxury hotel, Sadruddin Hashwani, said in a press conference here on Tuesday.
The hotel management has been seeking the land for last many years, but the Capital Development Authority (CDA) always denied the request and last year put the plot up for open auction for the construction of another five-star hotel.
The highest bid received by the CDA was Rs1.4 billion, but it was cancelled when the bidder failed to pay the initial amount on time.
However, a senior CDA official said the authority had no plans to hand over the land to the Marriott.
“It is a prime piece of land and we cannot give it to Mr Hashwani for peanuts,” he added.
On the other hand, Mr Hashwani argued that the authority had already provided land adjacent to another five-star hotel for its extension.
“If they have provided land to that hotel on subsidised price then this facility should also be given to the Marriott,” he said.
Mr Hashwani was of the view that the destruction caused by the suicide bombing would have been much lesser had the plot located at the back of the Marriott been provided to the hotel management for parking and entry of vehicles.
“If the plot would have been provided to us, we would have established entry point far away from the main hotel building that had caught fire when the over 600kg explosives (RDX and TNT) laden truck went off,” he said.
Mr Hashwani said none of the previous governments had paid attention to the security of the hotel where a large number of foreign investors stayed frequently.
“The attack on the hotel was actually an attack on the country because it had shattered the confidence of foreign investors,” he added.
Giving details about the renovation work on the gutted hotel and compensation to the affected families, he pledged to reopen the devastated Marriott by December 30 this year.
He said for the monetary support of the families of the deceased employees, his daughter, Sara Hashwani, had established the Hashoo Sahara Fund.
“I, on behalf of my family, have deposited Rs10 million in the fund and many people have made pledges of Rs4 million,” Mr Hashwani said.
He vowed to provide monetary assistance to children orphaned in the Marriott blast for their medical care, education and provision of vocational training.
“The fund seeks to address the families’ situation by absorbing their food, education and health expenses,” he added.Mr Hashwani said even after the hotel’s closure due to the devastation, some 750 employees were being paid monthly salary, adding that they would continue to receive it till the hotel became operational again.