Control of playgrounds: For public, it’s just not cricket

Eight of 17 grounds under control of private clubs which deny access to common man.

ISLAMABAD:

Sports are fundamental to the early development of children and the skills learned during play contribute to their holistic development.

But in Islamabad, if you want to play cricket on some grounds, you may not be able to do so, as some of these grounds are under the control of private individuals who allow only clubs to use them.

The inhabitants of Islamabad have no access to eight out total 17 cricket grounds established by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in various sectors.



These eight grounds are under the occupation of different private clubs owned by incumbent and former office bearers of the Islamabad Cricket Association (ICA). The clubs charge amounts ranging from Rs5,000 to Rs20,000 per match for their facilities.

Documents available with The Express Tribune show that the CDA spent Rs91.54 million in the recent past to maintain and develop these grounds. They were developed around 2004 to facilitate more citizens, but over a period of time, these came under the occupation powerful individuals who claim to have taken possession of them after reaching written agreements with the CDA. However, CDA officials denied that any such documents existed.

A CDA official, who once tried to retrieve the possession of one such ground from an individual and was consequently transferred, questioned how the CDA could enter into an agreement with private parties on public utility plots.

“They are like public parks. You can’t give control of parks to individuals under CDA rules and regulations,” he said, demanding that the SC intervene to retrieve such grounds from the occupation of the individuals, as it did in cases of public parks in Islamabad.

Most of these grounds were developed during the tenure of former CDA chairman Kamran Lashari. “The idea of establishing these cricket grounds was to provide sports facilities to the citizens,” Lashari said adding that private individuals or clubs should not have the sole right to run the affairs of such grounds.

“For the promotion of organized cricket, grounds can’t be used haphazardly, nor can they be handed over to private individuals,” Lashari said, suggesting that citizens, office bearers of cricket clubs and CDA officials together come up with a rationalised policy on how they can be best used.

ICA President Shakil Sheikh, who also runs the Diamond Cricket Ground in G-8/2, dispelled the impression that these grounds were good sources of money-making for individuals.

Sheikh, who is also a member of the executive body of the Pakistan Cricket Board, said that those who play for these private clubs were also citizens of Islamabad.

“You can’t allow people who just want to play a casual game cricket for some time, to take over properly maintained pitches and grounds,” Sheikh said, adding that one could get registered with a club and play free-of-cost on such grounds.

He said that club administrations charge nominal amount against cricket matches to meet the maintenance of such grounds, salary of employees and other expenses. He claimed that these grounds have been given to registered clubs under written agreements following the direction of the Senate.

When asked if these private clubs pay the CDA for these rights, Sheikh said the ICA was a non-profit organisation, which was working for the promotion of cricket in Islamabad, thus nothing was paid to the CDA.

Besides, these private clubs are also running grounds on greenbelts illegally, which include Lucky Star Ground near PARC Chowk and Punjab Cricket Ground in F-10.

Cricket grounds in private hands

Location	Size (In square feet)	Cost of Civil Work (in million)	Occupation
St. 29, F-7/1	54,000	2.546	Former cricketer Sarfraz Nawaz
St. 73, F-11/1	373,920	15.918	Irfan Manzoor (former secretary, ICA)
St. 10. G-11/1	160,000	6.497	Irfan Manzoor (former secretary, ICA)
CRA, G-7 Markaz	170,200	3.267	Ibrar Rizvi (former office bearer of ICA)
F-7/3	Not available	Not Available	Shabir (former office bearer of ICA)
Margalla Road	Not available	Not available	Majid Khan, former test cricketer
G-8/2	Not available	Not available	Shakil Sheikh, President ICA
Saidpur	Not available	Not available	ICA

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th,2013.