Pakistan

Ministry told to resolve Islamabad Club issues

Senate body directs ministry of sports to resolve issues of Islamabad Club and Islamabad Gold Club.

Azam Khan October 23, 2010

ISLAMABAD: A Senate standing committee has directed the ministry of sports to resolve the issues of Islamabad Club and Islamabad Golf Club (IGC), especially the row over administrative control of the two clubs.

Other issues the committee discussed are of the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) claim of non-payment of rent for the parking area of the Islamabad Club and the meagre membership charges of the Golf Club. The 12-member Senate Standing Committee on Sports meeting was chaired by Senator Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi on Thursday. The committee was briefed on the working and performance of both clubs.

Islamabad Club and IGC have independent administrative bodies. The chairperson asked the sports minister to submit a report on the issue to curb the extra expenditure.

The issue of non-payment of rent raised by CDA was also highlighted. CDA claims that at the commencement of Islamabad Club, 244 acres of land was rented out as the parking area of the club at Rs0.672 million per annum. The authority claims that not only is the rent too meager but the club refuses to pay it. When asked, CDA Member Finance Saeed-ur-Rehman told The Express Tribune that the Islamabad Club is not even paying the nominal amount to the civic authority. The committee asked the administration of Islamabad Club to pay the rent. The committee also decided to hold its next meeting at Islamabad Club to further discuss the issue with both the club and CDA administration.

The committee also raised the issue of $15 charged by IGC as its monthly membership fee. The administration of the club was asked to increase its membership to generate more funds.

The committee also asked the administration of the two clubs to engage Auditor General of Pakistan for audit of the clubs instead of a private agency.

“We want to know every detail regarding accounting matters of the club because it is necessary to bring transparency in the affairs of any elite club,” said Senator Haroon Khan, a member of the committee.

Minister for Sports Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakharani assured the committee that necessary amendments would be made.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2010.

COMMENTS (1)

Syed Nadir El-Edroos | 14 years ago | Reply What a travesty. In a country where the state barely functions to provide basic services, public property and services are offered to "civil servants", yes servants of the people, not the other way around, at rock bottom prices, so that they can continue acting as the aristocratic elite living in a bubble where for 15 dollars you can play a nice game of golf! Shameful, people can afford to pay many lakhs to gain membership, and then the administrators refuse to pay rent? Shameful! Its just another example of how people measure their social status from how disconnected from wider society they are and how they are able to get away as a free-rider while expecting everyone else to foot the bills.

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