Grand Hyatt project CDA asked to deal with violations

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has sought recommendations from Capital Development Authority (CDA) to deal with manifold violations in the terms of a contract pertaining to a five-star hotel (Grand Hyatt) adjacent to the Jinnah Convention Centre.
The committee chairman, Syed Khurshid Shah, had referred the case in 2014 to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the deal.
A NAB official told the committee members that the report was almost final and would be ready for PAC's perusal by the end of this month. The CDA has also completed its inquiry report which would be discussed by the committee in its upcoming sessions.
In a briefing on the background of the project, Chairman CDA Maroof Afzal informed the committee that a construction company, Bismillah Niagara Paragon (BNP), was the highest bidder for Grand Hyatt Hotel project. The CDA leased out the land to the company in 2005 for Rs 4.8 billion which it had to pay in installments by 2020.
As per the agreement, he said that the highest bidder had to pay 15 per cent of the total cost in first 45 days and the rest in 15 installments. The BNP, however, paid only Rs977 million and got possession of the plot in 2007.
He maintained that in the aftermath of October 2005 earthquake, the CDA board had changed its building code, which raised the structural cost of the hotel. As a consequence, the BNP filed an application with the then prime minister, seeking relaxation in lease payment schedule. The prime minister referred the matter to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC). The ECC allowed the CDA board to decide the matter, which rescheduled the payment, allowing it to complete the installments by 2021, giving one-year relaxation.
He further informed the committee that the BNP again approached CDA board for rescheduling the payment plan in 2012. The CDA board approved payment rescheduled plan till 2026 by relaxing the contract clauses, adding that Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has argued that objected no building in Islamabad is permitted to be constructed beyond 300 feet, but the contractor built a 23-storey structure instead of permitted 13-stoery.
Chairman Committee Syed Khurshid Ali Shah further said that BNP obtained loan of Rs1.5 billion from the Bank of Punjab (BoP) and did not pay back the loan.