Who is Interested
in These Hush Hush Sale of Posh Pakistani Properties in World
Capitals
Special
SAT Report
LONDON:
The Pakistan Government has quietly decided to sell most of its
precious and posh diplomatic properties in major world capitals
in what appears to be a cleverly crafted scheme to make millions
for some one.
After
reports of similar sales some time back in Jakarta, where a retired
Major General did not even wait for Islamabad’s approval
for the sale, and last week’s reports that similar sales
were planned in New York and Washington DC, it has now been confirmed
that the palatial residence of the Pakistan High Commissioner
in London is now up for sale.
The
London property has been put up for sale with a Jewish real estate
firm, Goldschmidt & Howland, which has also put it up on its
web site and is marketing it vigorously for a price of 5.75 million
British pounds of about US$ 10 million. Click
to Read Details and See Pictures
For
the unauthorized Jakarta property sale, a government probe committee
conveniently let the retired Major General off by just "advising"
him not to do something like that again, but the civilian diplomat
who reported the unauthorized sale to the Foreign Ministry in
Islamabad is to be punished for blowing the whistle.
But
the Committee report revealed that there was immense pressure
from Islamabad on the Ambassador in Jakarta to sell the property.
Whether this was an excuse or not, but the report admitted that
the properties were being sold under a policy, which no one has
explained to the Pakistani public so far.
The
report directly placed the blame on the then Chief Executive,
General Pervez Musharraf saying: “This aspect has to be
seen in the context of the advice of the foreign secretary and
the desire of the chief executive when the ambassador called on
them prior to his departure for Indonesia; and the chief executive’s
directive as also his advice during his state visit to Indonesia
in March 2000.”
It
is not yet clear whether the new Pakistan High Commissioner, Maleeha
Lodhi is in the picture as it was at this residence that she was
supposed to have stayed in an elite London area of Hampstead,
Kenwood where the family of Sultan of Brunei, the Royal family
from Saudi Arabia and Kings and Queens from various European countries
have their private residences.
Winninton Road runs parallel to The Bishops Avenue and these two
roads are considered as London's most prestigious addresses.
The
Agents have posted several pictures of the exterior and the interior
of the Pakistani HC’s residence, including one which shows
a picture of the Quaid-e-Azam hanging in the Hall, just close
to the stairways. The residence has 10 huge bedrooms and 3 receptions
and is a property which was purchased just 5 years ago.
Why
is this jewel of a property up for sale is not clear yet but it
is certain that in 5 years nothing big has gone wrong with it
except that someone in the Foreign office or the Prime Minister’s
Secretariat or the President’s House wants to get rid of
it and then look for another property, as the new High Commissioner
has to live in some place. Both these transactions have the potential
of yielding huge kickbacks, if allowed to be handled by those
who planned the scam.
In a similar transaction before the Musharraf Government, Pakistan
had purchased this property after the previous HC’s residence
on Avenue Road in St Johns Wood, NW8, London was sold off.
At
the moment these scattered stories of property sales in Jakarta,
New York, Washington and now London do not make any policy sense,
but sources in Islamabad told the South Asia Tribune,
a general directive had been issued by the top brass of the Army
that all overvalued properties should be disposed of and new ones
purchased. The logic behind this is yet to be
determined.
Ansar Abbasi adds from Islamabad:
A
fact finding inter-ministerial inquiry committee that visited
Jakarta in April 2002 to report to the then chief executive on
the controversial sale of precious government assets there, had
recommended a cover-up solution to legalize the deal.
The committee, headed by the then secretary cabinet Javed Masud
and comprising Mohsin Hafeez, the then joint secretary CE secretariat
and Raja Raza Arshad, the then joint secretary finance division,
had however suggested disciplinary action against the then minister
and head of chancellery MH Rizvi for his “deliberate incorrect
reporting” against the ambassador who was blamed of getting
kickbacks in this deal.
The committee reported the following violations in the prescribed
modalities in the sale of these foreign assets; a) Prior approval
of the committee headed by secretary general finance for signing
of the sale agreement was not obtained; b) Advertisements in the
press and invitation of bids through local tender was not resorted
to; c) Under the sale/purchase binding agreement, the payment
in local currency was accepted; d) Letter of authorization to
sell the chancery building requested on 04 December 2001 was not
awaited.
Despite this the committee gave the following four recommendations:
i) The agreement to sell entered into by the embassy on 18 February
2002, be approved by the competent committee headed by the secretary
general finance; ii) All further transactions should ensure total
transparency and observance of rules and policy. Detailed advance
planning for the package proposed (in connection with the future
property to be acquired for the mission0 should be carefully prepared
and calibrated, ensuring that no need for additional subsequent
government funding to complete the project arises; iii) The ambassador
of Pakistan in Jakarta may be advised to comply with government
policy, rules and codal formalities, deadline and pressures notwithstanding,
in future; and iv) The foreign office may initiate disciplinary
proceeding against the Minister Mr Rizvi for deliberate incorrect
reporting on a very sensitive matter.
The committee was, however, of the view that the above deviations
from rules took place largely because of the pressure on the ambassador
to finalize the sale/purchase agreement for the properties in
compliance with government policy. “This aspect has to be
seen in the context of the advice of the foreign secretary and
the desire of the chief executive when the ambassador called on
them prior to his departure for Indonesia; and the chief executive’s
directive as also his advice during his state visit to Indonesia
in March 2000.”
Unfortunately, the report said, there was a mishmash between the
ambassador’s desire for quick implementation of directives
and the delayed responses of the foreign office that moved at
the normal bureaucratic speed. Under these circumstances, a feeling
of frustration that was being generated at the implementation
stage was understandable.
The committee also agreed with a local firms assessment that the
sale price of the assets as indicated in the sale agreement dated
18 Feb 2002 represented fair marker value for the property. The
committee did not agree that the assets were sold on throwaway
prices and asserted that the price obtained for the chancery property
was fair market value.
