Up for grabs? Rumours of selling prime property denied

The PITHM might be forced to shut down or relocate if the sale goes through

KARACHI:

Two prime properties worth millions and belonging to the Sindh government's culture and tourism department are ready to be sold to private builders at throwaway rates.

Summaries of the Sambara Inn Hotel in Larkana and a 10,000 square yard property in Clifton where the government runs a hotel management institute are up to help the sale.

Sources claim that someone close to an influential Pakistan Peoples Party  (PPP) leader is willing to buy the plot and build a 35-storey hotel complete with marriage halls. There are rumours that the Sambara Hotel is being sold to the Shaikhs of Larkana.

Real estate, money talks

The Pakistan Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management (PITHM) was established in 1967 and might be forced to shut down or relocate if the sale goes through.

"Two secretaries of the culture department were transferred, because they refused to sign on the summaries to sell these properties," said a source, adding that one of them was Eijaz Memon who refused to sign the papers despite orders from higher authorities. The source claimed that he was eventually asked to leave.



Initially, the institute used to operate under the domain of the federal government and after the promulgation of the 18th Amendment became the provincial government's responsibility.

Soon after devolution, another source claimed, “every minister and influential person in the ruling party was after this plot. They wanted to sell it to private builders. A while ago, the chief minister approved the summary but some members on the board of directors of the institute raised objections." The sources added that they objected as the land belonged to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), not the Sindh government, claiming that this was the only institute in Sindh which offered hotel and tourism management courses at reasonable fees. At the moment there are 800 students enrolled there for short and diploma courses. The land the institute is built on was an amenity plot given by the KMC to PITHM. The KMC still has ownership rights.

"There were plans to hand over this property to someone who wanted to build a market," said a senior official in the culture department. "Now, there are plans to sell it to someone to make a hotel." The official added that the chief minister, being an executive authority of the province, will have to approve the summary by relaxing the rules. This is something that can be done just with a signature from the secretary.

At the Sambara Inn Hotel, something similar happened. The hotel is owned and operated by the tourism department. It was built by PPP's Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Several cultural programmes, weddings and other events have been held at the premises. Even though it generates a healthy revenue, some people in the government have been trying to sell it off at a cheap price.

While talking to The Express Tribune, special assistant to the CM on culture, Sharmila Faruqi denied that the government had plans to sell the properties.

"We don't have any plans to sell Sambara Inn Hotel," she said. "How could we do it? The hotel was built by our party's leader and is an asset." She pointed out that the hotel had been handed over to the district government for a while but now its management is back in the hands of the provincial tourism department.

Discussing the Clifton plot, she claimed that she had no idea that anyone was attempting to sell it. She insisted that this was mere speculation, not the truth.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2014.