Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) has started making endeavours to reclaim its 172 acres of land in Gaddani, which was earlier leased out to a private company by the Balochistan government following the passage of the 18th constitutional amendment.

According to information received by Daily Times, the PTDC-owned land worth billion of rupees was leased out to a private company called MK, which had set up a fish harbour there.

However, a recently held board meeting of the PTDC has decided that the precious land cannot be handed over to the provincial government at any cost. For the purpose, the board has also sent a summary, containing its recommendations, to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has directed the State Bank of Pakistan to evaluate the cost of the land.

Source said that the MK company had approached every forum including court to acquire the land but it could not succeed in its efforts and later offered to purchase 32 acres of land from the PTDC.

When contacted, PTDC Managing Director Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor said the land belonged to the PTDC and the department wanted to retain the property. “If MK wants to build any fish farm or make any investment there, the land may be given to it on lease so that the PTDC does not stand deprived of the precious property,” he observed.

When Daily Times contacted an engineer of Gaddani project, who is monitoring the matter for the last several years, he avoided providing any information on this count.