Lease for Grand Hyatt Hotel cancelled in Islamabad

Case of the scandal has been dubbed as 'shabby'

ISLAMABAD: The Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Tariq Fazal Chaudhary on Tuesday told the Senate that the civic body in the capital had cancelled lease of the land allotted to construct a hotel and residency block on One Constitution Avenue.

While replying to various supplementary questions during the Question Hour, Chaudhary said that the lease had been cancelled following  violation of the agreement with Capital Development Authority (CDA).



He added that the case was a mega scandal as he described the agreement as ‘shabby’.

He said that the CDA had provided 13.5 acres land to build the Grand Hyatt Hotel near Convention Centre in Islamabad.

Chaudhary said that under the agreement, a five-star hotel would be built but the owner constructed apartments which he later sold to the public.

Chaudhry added that in 2005, CDA’s Finance Wing fixed Rs14,500 per square yard as the price for the land reserved for construction of the hotel. BNP Group offered the highest bid of Rs75,000 per sq. yard, he said.

CDA then received Rs1.23 billion out of a total Rs4.88 billion. The lessee, on the orders of the of Islamabad High Court, had deposited a Rs200 million installment due on December 31, 2016.

“The building was sealed and is under the custody of CDA,” Chaudhary said, adding that the lease stood cancelled.



The minister further said that various parliamentary committees, including the Public Accounts Committee, were also looking into the matter.

No rules, quota violated by FGHF: Minister

Akram Khan Durrani, the Minister for Housing and Works, on Tuesday defended the Federal Government Housing Foundation (FGHF), stating that no violations had been committed in allotting plots to officers of Islamabad Police and District Administration.

Responding to a calling attention notice in the Senate, Durrani said that the previous quota for professionals was two per cent but it was revised upward to three per cent while decisions relating to allotments had been made by the executive committee strictly as per quota.

He said previously there were also persisting problems of quota among the professionals but the matter had been resolved by the executive committee by bifurcating the quota in each category.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2017.