Model Town: ‘Govt illegally occupying three plots’

Plots were leased to the govt by the Model Town Society management.

LAHORE:

Plots worth billions of rupees have been leased out to the Punjab government by the Model Town Society (MTS) management, without following proper protocol or taking required by-laws into account, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The MTS is a limited registered body, with over 4,000 registered residents. Its master plan, outlined in 1931, was destroyed “for ulterior motives”, residents of the area added.

After a deal formed between former district Nazim Mian Amer Mehmood and the Sharif brothers, the management adopted a tight-lip policy on the issue.

Following the directives of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the Punjab government occupied land measuring 25 kanals in H-Block, for the establishment of a Women’s Cricket Club (WCC). The land was given to the women’s cricket wing chairperson for the construction of the WCC. The space was previously used to set up Sunday Bazaar for the residents. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Parks and Horticulture Authority invested Rs6 million to have the ground levelled with the grass and for an eight feet wall to be constructed.

Initially, the management planned to establish a family park on this plot which is unlikely to materialise now, said a resident Ahmed Ali.

The MTS management failed to protect three residential plots measuring six kanals each situated in front of the Sharifs’ residence in H-block, which were used for constructing the Nawaz Sharif Hockey Ground, another resident said.

The Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA) occupied this land without the consent of the management of the society, and planted grass, erected a fence and put up goal posts. Even the management committee (the prime body of the society), declared in its meeting that the occupation of the land was “an illegal act”, however, no legal action was initiated against the land grabbers.

The committee passed a resolution to keep residential plots from being converted into hockey grounds, but the site was cordoned off and the hockey ground was constructed, regardless, said Abrar, another resident.

The society’s president, in connivance with some other members, allowed 12 kanals of land of J-block to be used for commercial purposes, despite opposition from the residents. The land was reserved for Liner Park and is now being leased out to the son of a prominent lawyer who played a key role in the 1999 deal under which Sharif went into exile.

According to the by-laws, the management committee had the power to lease the society’s land out for only one year, but all three sites were being given away on a three-year lease period, said Ahmed Ali, also a resident of the area.

The conversion of J-Block for the use of commercial activities should not be allowed, said Amer Azam, president of the resident association. The society management is making an underhanded deal for its own vested interest, but the residents will never allow for it to follow through, Azam added. The Punjab government illegally occupied three residential plots, said Col (Retd) Tahir H Kardar president of the Cooperative Model Town Society.

However, Kardar ruled out any influence on the deal owing to reconciliation between Mian Amer and the Sharif brothers.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2011.