The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has not sold but leased 170 acres of land located on Mardan-Swabi road, well informed sources revealed to Business Recorder. Talking to Business Recorder, Information Minister KPK Mian Iftikhar Hussain clarified that the provincial government has the option to offer Olive Orchards on lease through open auction to satisfy the public.
Information Minister dispelled the impression that the lease agreement has been breached saying that the lease agreement with Pakistan Oil Development Board (PODB) expired on June 30, 2010. There is no reality to the claim that the agreement was to expire in 2012.
He also categorically denied that Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti had influenced the allotment process and favoured a senior leader of Awami National Party. "The land is the property of the provincial Auqaf Department and is being leased out, not sold", Iftikhar said.
He maintained that the land was leased to PODB - a government institute for establishing research station at the rate of Rs 600 per acre and lease agreement expired on June 30, 2010. However, the Minister said that now the non-agriculture and non-profitable land has been leased to M/s NI Associates, a private construction and manufacturing company of Rawalpindi at the higher rate of Rs 1200 per acre against its market rate of Rs 1000 per acre.
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