ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — The government will turn Islamabad’s One Constitution Avenue into a five-star hotel within months, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Wednesday, after the federal cabinet approved an inquiry report that ministers said found fraud in the project.
“There is a severe shortage of hotels in Islamabad. We will soon try to make an agreement with a large chain of hotels,” Naqvi told reporters. He said the building was now legally in the government’s possession after the cabinet’s decision, and that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) would take charge of its affairs.
The twin towers were approved as a five-star hotel about two decades ago, and were later turned into apartments. The CDA cancelled the lease over unpaid dues, a decision the Islamabad High Court upheld in April. Residents were evicted in May, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif then ordered a joint investigation team (JIT).
What ministers say the report found
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the JIT, with members from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Federal Investigation Agency, the Federal Board of Revenue and other agencies, concluded that the project rested on “irregularity and rigging”. He said the bidding was manipulated, a bank guarantee condition was removed to help the developers and the apartments were sold illegally.
“The CDA was found complicit,” Iqbal said. He said the JIT identified Abdul Hafeez Sheikh as the mastermind and named former CDA chairman Kamran Lashari among the officials it said had colluded. The report has not been published, none of those named has been convicted, and their responses were not immediately available.
NAB has been told to take action against those involved. Iqbal said the JIT also recommended blacklisting Sheikh and his company from public projects, auctioning the project afresh and giving the building a new name, since its address had been used for marketing.
What happens to the buyers
Those who bought apartments are to be compensated. Iqbal said their principal would be refunded, with payments adjusted against the Karachi Interbank Offered Rate “so they do not suffer losses”. Naqvi said the payments were binding on the government after the report. Neither minister gave a timetable or a total.
The JIT also called for an overhaul of the CDA and its ordinance, an independent master plan commission, digitised records and rotation of planning and enforcement officers every two years, Iqbal said.
