Tourism turf war: K-P govt restrained from taking charge of PTDC motels

Petition by the corporation’s MD states province first needs legislation on management of employees, assets.

PESHAWAR:

Four days after the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government issued a notification to assume administrative control and management of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) assets and employees, the Peshawar High Court has temporarily stopped it from proceeding further.

The petition has been filed by PTDC managing director through his counsel Raja Saimul Haq Satti. The K-P chief secretary, secretary sports, tourism and youth affairs, Tourism Corporation K-P (TCKP) and IGP have been named as respondents.

Haq told the division bench of Justice Qaiser Rashid and Justice Asadullah Khan Chamkani that the K-P government issued a notification on September 1 under which it assumed administrative control of some motels and 250 employees from the federal government.

“The provincial government can take the control under the 18th amendment if it makes legislation for [managing the assets],” he told the court. “The law has to clearly define the role of employees, monitory management of assets and arrangements for the payment of the arrears of employees.” The court was further informed the assets of the PTDC were to be controlled by the provincial government without clarity on the future of the employees and their payment of their arrears.

Haq argued the PTDC was set up under the Companies Ordinance 1984 and the permission of the board of director is necessary before taking over control of the assets.

“The National Industrial Relations Court has already given an order in favour of the employees, saying the provincial government can take over the charge if it makes legislation and provides due protection to  employees,” Haq told the court.

After hearing preliminary arguments from the counsel of the petitioner, the bench restrained the provincial government from proceeding further on the notification issued to take over PTDC assets and employees.

The court also ordered Additional Advocate General Mian Arshad Jan who was present in the court to submit reports on the case before September 16, the next date of hearing.

According to the notification issued on September 1, the properties assumed include PTDC motel and tourist information centre at Saidu Sharif,  motels in Kalam, Miandam Baffar, Chail, Mankial Swat Pankot Dir, Bumburet, Bunni, Birmoglasht, Mastuj, Garam Chashma Chitral,  Chattar Plain Manshera, Besham, Barseen Dasu, Balakot, Naran, Ayubia and a PTDC restaurant in Chakdara Malakand.

TCKP has already been handed over motels in Chitral, Bumburet, Booni and Mastuj in the presence of the district administration and PTDC staff. Others are in the process of doing their inventory.

A statement issued on Friday by TCKP quoted secretary tourism Muhammad Azam Khan as saying almost 1,000 of PTDC employees have not been paid their salaries for the last 19 months. This will be the first priority of K-P government, to pay PTDC’s arrears, the secretary had said.

“The acts and omissions of the respondents resulting in unrest in PTDC [should] be declared illegal, unlawful and against the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution, restraining them not to go beyond their mandate,” stated the petition, the hearing of which was on Friday. It further added the respondents may graciously be restrained from forcibly taking over all assets in collusion with the local police and other sate functionaries of the K-P government.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2014.