Sale proceeds from hotels used to shed PTDC staff

PC pays Rs170mn under golden handshake and voluntary separation scheme to employees of PTDC.

ISLAMABAD: The Privatisation Commission (PC) has paid Rs170 million under golden handshake and voluntary separation scheme to the employees of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) from the sale proceeds of the privatised Cecil Hotel, Murree, Deans Hotel, Peshawar and Faletti’s Hotel, Lahore.

This was informed during a presentation by the PC to the Senate’s Standing Committee on Culture and Tourism, which met here with Senator Nilofar Bakhtiar in the chair.

The committee briefed the members about the procedure adopted for the privatisation of the hotels. There was no restriction on the buyers of Deans and Cecil hotels, in the sale deed agreements, to continue these entities as hotels; however, there is a condition for the buyer of Faletti’s Hotel to build a modern hotel, while keeping the facade intact, in a period of 30 months after its sale in 2005.

The buyer got extensions, for 30 months each, in 2007 and 2009. The committee decided to invite the buyer and inquire about the delay.

Meanwhile, the committee directed PTDC authorities to present performance report of these hotels from 1993 to 1998 to the PC while the latter would have the former reimbursed for the amount pertaining to the assets of these hotels from the Finance Division.

The committee also directed PTDC to submit current status of liquor licences of the privatised hotels.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2010.