Compensation: Research institute given land

FAISALABAD:

Faisalabad city district government has allocated a 402-acre plot of land near Sahianwala for Ayub Agriculture Research Institute (AARI).

The plot has been allotted to the research institute to compensate for a 200-acre plot it owned near Jhang Road which was set aside for setting up a new campus of the Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF).

District Coordination Officer Nasim Sadiq said earlier the campus was to be constructed on the plot near Sahianwala but there was a change of plan following complaints from students and faculty about the site. He said the Sahianwala plot was about 33 km away from the university’s two main campuses.

He said the AARI would set up a new Agriculture Extension Research Centre on the Sahianwala plot. He said the centre would be used for research on new agricultural technologies. The GCUF’s Jhang Road campus would include an academic block, an administration block and a staff housing colony. The DCO said Rs480 million has been approved for the project. Of these,  Rs100 million has already been released.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2012.