LAHORE: The Lahore Development Authority has refused to provide its 122 Kanal commercial land to the Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department (SHC&MED).
The purpose of acquiring the land which lay vacant for many years was to construct a 1,000-bed healthcare facility.
In a meeting, it was decided that DG LDA shall be negotiating with the SHC&MED to rationalize the land need for the hospital in a vertical style to utilize the land to its full potential.
The Authority additionally instructed the DG to provide a thorough plan for further government initiatives for the remaining patch of land following the allocation of the land by SHC & MED requirements.
A senior LDA official noted that it was unclear from the Authority’s decision whether the property will be provided to the SHC & MED for a fee or without charge.
He said that the LDA would suffer a significant financial loss if this valuable business site was given away free of charge.
In response to a request from the SHC&MED, the governing body of LDA approved both the conversion of 122 Kanal (out of 152 Kanal of land) of commercial land to a public utility site, and the allocation of that 122 Kanal to the aforementioned department for the construction of a 1,000-bed hospital subject to payment of the land’s cost at a reserve price.
The working paper claimed that the Price Assessment Committee of LDA fixed the price of land at PKR 2.5 million per marla, which was even less than the acquisition price of 2017.
Adding that this conversion of land use exponentially devalued the worth of this prime commercial land and caused a huge loss to the Authority.
Furthermore, LDA would only get 1/3 of the price determined by PAC, or PKR 0.83 million per marla, as a result of recovering the cost of the land at the reserved price.
Further information from the working paper showed that even though the Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Department, Punjab failed to complete the payment by the deadline, the cost of the 122-Kanal was calculated to be Rs 2,033.33 million (at the reserved price).
When the Authority met, the issue was once again brought up. The Authority agreed to give SHC & ME Department actual ownership of the land in exchange for their pledge to pay the cost of the land to LDA on or before February 4, 2022.
In addition to extending the payment deadline until February 15, 2022, the Authority also authorized it.
As a result, the SHC & ME Department committed in a letter dated September 28, 2021, that the cost of the land would be placed as soon as the Punjab government provided the cash.
Because the Authority gave its permission, a conditional Allotment Letter was issued under the number LDA/DIR-H-V1/4473, and the SHC & ME Department was given actual possession of the site.
Nevertheless, the Authority’s extended due date was missed by the SHC & ME Department, Punjab. Because the cost of the land was not paid by the deadline, the Authority’s permission became invalid. As a result, the Estate Officer withdrew control of the property on March 16, 2022, and a letter dated June 17, 2022, canceled or revoked the allocation.
In reaction to the cancellation of the allotment, the SHC & ME department sent a letter on July 22, 2022, asking for a free allotment of land in their favor.
The department referred to an observation made by the Standing Committee of the Cabinet on Finance & Development at its 63rd meeting on September 16, 2021.
In the meeting, it was suggested that the SHC & ME Department of Punjab make a case for the free allocation of land for the hospital in question because it was a project for the development of the social sector.
According to the working paper, it is important to emphasize that the Authority previously adopted a tolerant stance on this issue when it transformed its prime commercial land into a public utility site.
According to the working paper, “setting a precedent of converting a purchased/acquired land by the Authority at commercial rates would open a floodgate for similar future conversions of other prime commercial properties of the Authority.”
It also stated that since the property has always been commercial, its disposal as a public utility site at a reserved price would not only be in doubt but would also result in significant loss for the Authority.
The building of a hospital on this commercial property was never LDA’s goal or desire when it was obtained or even later.
This site was purchased as a business property. In light of the aforementioned, the LDA management requested that the Authority reinstate the commercial status of the 122-Kanal land, which had previously been converted to a public utility site, reject the SHC & ME Department of Punjab’s request for a free allocation of 122-Kanal land while maintaining the cancellation/withdrawal of land allotment.
Additionally, the Chief Town Planner, LDA, was also instructed to plan this land as an important business and trade location for the southern and eastern sides of the city.
Furthermore, the LDA DG Amir Ahmed Khan stated that because LDA had already paid for the property, it would not give it away for free.
He also added that in this era of vertical expansion, in most of the developed countries, cutting-edge vertical hospitals may be found on a very small piece of land.
