NICL land scam: Nespak seeks reassessment on inconsistent report

KARACHI:

A report compiled by Nespak, which assessed the price of a 10-acre plot of land to be Rs900 million which was bought by NICL management, has so many discrepancies that the engineering firm has called for an investigation by an independent entity.

According to a copy of the report, Nespak had only determined the price of seven acres of land, instead of property in its entirety. The report said that Rs490m had been paid over and above the assessed price of land. Nespak report also states that the land, with a prime location with all facilities readily available, can be used for either residential or commercial purposes.

Interestingly enough, Nespak report states that of the 10 acres, six can be used for residential, one acre for commercial and three acres for amenity and other infrastructure purposes.

According to Nespak’s estimates, the six-acre residential site was worth Rs290.4 million, one-acre commercial area was said to be valued at Rs84.7 million, totalling Rs375.1 million. Nespak later added a 10 per cent premium and arrived at an arbitrary aggregate price of Rs412.6 million, without even mentioning the price for three acres of amenity land.

The report further claims that if the land in question is used as commercial area, it can be sold at Rs80m per acre while it can also pay a 10 per cent premium on the land, buying it for Rs90m per acre.  The report also insists that the price of land can also be assessed by firms registered with the State Bank of Pakistan.

Following this advice, FIA asked the current management of NICL to contact the firms but the management is yet to take any action.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2011.