Lease violations: Senate body seeks land record
Asks CDA to provide agreement signed with NARC in 1975.
Asks CDA to provide agreement signed with NARC in 1975. STOCK IMAGE
ISLAMABAD:
A Senate committee has sought complete record of land lease agreements signed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) since 1975 with different government organizations and departments for the establishment of offices and buildings.
The Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research has also asked the civic authorities to submit agreement it had signed with the National Agriculture Research Council in 1975 leasing out over 1,000 acres for agricultural research.
The committee gave these directives while discussing a CDA proposal to convert land meant for research into a housing colony to shore up its revenue.
Different issues related to agricultural development and research, subsidies and recent damages caused to the cotton crop due to rains in Punjab also came under discussion.
A CDA summary suggesting conversion of the premier research institute’s land stretching over 1,395.2 acres into a housing society is currently pending with the Prime Minister’s office. The CDA expects to generate Rs150 billion from it.
“The record of lease agreements signed since 1975 with different departments should also include the details of violations of terms and conditions of the agreements committed by the lessees,” the committee chairman, Muzaffar Hussain Shah directed the CDA.
The direction came after the CDA’s deputy director estate management-II Saba Asim repeated the civic body’s longstanding stance that NARC’s lease agreement was expired in 2005 and despite repeated reminders the research institute management did not renewed it.
She also informed the committee that the NARC had also committed some 26 violations of the terms and conditions of the agreement by constructing additional structures including petrol pump, housing colony for employees and offices, without obtaining permission.
She said the CDA was also pursuing the issue of retrieval of its land from departments whose lease agreements were expired.
Several government departments are in possession of lands whose lease agreements have expired and the CDA has never been consulted while building additional structures on their respective premises.
Private individuals also never bother to renew their lease agreements. The CDA incurs an estimated loss of over Rs2 billion in revenue per year due to non-renewal of lease agreements by about 980 commercial properties.
National Food Security and Research Minister Sikander Hayat Bosan recently had also written a letter to the Prime Minister requesting him to turn down the CDA’s summary regarding conversion of land into housing colony.
Damages to crops
Bosan informed the committee that recent rains and floods had affected different crops in 11 districts of Punjab.
“Rains and floods have ravaged 150,000 acres of standing crops in Punjab alone,” Bosan said Mianwali was the worst-hit district where standing crops over an area of 76,000 affected badly.
He said due to prevailing hazy atmosphere in Punjab bugs and pests were damaging the leftover crops.
Talking about subsidies for farmers on pesticides and fertilizers, Bosan said, various multinational companies had reduced prices but national companies had not yet.
Representatives of Trading Corporation of Pakistan informed the committee that a summary suggesting Rs3,000 minimum support price per 40kg cotton has been sent to the Cabinet Division and it was yet to be approved.
They said currently the price of 40kg cotton in open market was Rs2,100.
The committee chairman observed that Rs2,100 price even does not cover the costs to grow 40kg cotton.
Representatives of Millat and Ghazi tractors manufactures briefed the committee that currently they were making 50,000 tractors annually against their capacity of producing 70,000 tractors.
Senators including Mohammad Zafarullah Khan Dhandla, Mukhtar Ahmad Dhamrah, Brig (retd) John Kenneth Williams also attended the meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 14th, 2015.
A Senate committee has sought complete record of land lease agreements signed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) since 1975 with different government organizations and departments for the establishment of offices and buildings.
The Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research has also asked the civic authorities to submit agreement it had signed with the National Agriculture Research Council in 1975 leasing out over 1,000 acres for agricultural research.
The committee gave these directives while discussing a CDA proposal to convert land meant for research into a housing colony to shore up its revenue.
Different issues related to agricultural development and research, subsidies and recent damages caused to the cotton crop due to rains in Punjab also came under discussion.
A CDA summary suggesting conversion of the premier research institute’s land stretching over 1,395.2 acres into a housing society is currently pending with the Prime Minister’s office. The CDA expects to generate Rs150 billion from it.
“The record of lease agreements signed since 1975 with different departments should also include the details of violations of terms and conditions of the agreements committed by the lessees,” the committee chairman, Muzaffar Hussain Shah directed the CDA.
The direction came after the CDA’s deputy director estate management-II Saba Asim repeated the civic body’s longstanding stance that NARC’s lease agreement was expired in 2005 and despite repeated reminders the research institute management did not renewed it.
She also informed the committee that the NARC had also committed some 26 violations of the terms and conditions of the agreement by constructing additional structures including petrol pump, housing colony for employees and offices, without obtaining permission.
She said the CDA was also pursuing the issue of retrieval of its land from departments whose lease agreements were expired.
Several government departments are in possession of lands whose lease agreements have expired and the CDA has never been consulted while building additional structures on their respective premises.
Private individuals also never bother to renew their lease agreements. The CDA incurs an estimated loss of over Rs2 billion in revenue per year due to non-renewal of lease agreements by about 980 commercial properties.
National Food Security and Research Minister Sikander Hayat Bosan recently had also written a letter to the Prime Minister requesting him to turn down the CDA’s summary regarding conversion of land into housing colony.
Damages to crops
Bosan informed the committee that recent rains and floods had affected different crops in 11 districts of Punjab.
“Rains and floods have ravaged 150,000 acres of standing crops in Punjab alone,” Bosan said Mianwali was the worst-hit district where standing crops over an area of 76,000 affected badly.
He said due to prevailing hazy atmosphere in Punjab bugs and pests were damaging the leftover crops.
Talking about subsidies for farmers on pesticides and fertilizers, Bosan said, various multinational companies had reduced prices but national companies had not yet.
Representatives of Trading Corporation of Pakistan informed the committee that a summary suggesting Rs3,000 minimum support price per 40kg cotton has been sent to the Cabinet Division and it was yet to be approved.
They said currently the price of 40kg cotton in open market was Rs2,100.
The committee chairman observed that Rs2,100 price even does not cover the costs to grow 40kg cotton.
Representatives of Millat and Ghazi tractors manufactures briefed the committee that currently they were making 50,000 tractors annually against their capacity of producing 70,000 tractors.
Senators including Mohammad Zafarullah Khan Dhandla, Mukhtar Ahmad Dhamrah, Brig (retd) John Kenneth Williams also attended the meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 14th, 2015.