ISLAMABAD – Even though Ministry of Tourism, under the devolution plan, will not be a federal subject after February 28, there is no clear outline of how it is to be devolved, the Standing Committee of the Senate on Tourism was told on Saturday.
“There are 123 employees of the ministry, 22 Memorandum of Understandings with different countries, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), asset of Rs 23 million land of Malam Jabba Resort and several other allied departments of different kinds.
The ministry does not know how all of this will be devolved,” Shahid Rashid, secretary of the ministry of tourism said. Raising objection to the devolution of the ministry to the provinces, chairperson of the standing committee Senator Nilofar Bakhtiar said that she will meet Senator Raza Rabbani, chairman of the implementation committee, to discuss the matter and tell him that devolution of the ministry of tourism will seriously damage the industry of tourism in the country.
“If the provinces control the tourism, how will they sign agreements with other countries to attract foreigners? How will the peaks of Nanga Parbat, Hinhu Kash and Himalayan Range, which are always associated with Pakistan, be identified after the devolution to the provinces? ” Nilofar said. “The parliament passed the 18th Amendment in haste and no comprehensive study was undertaken prior to the amendment,” Nilofer said.
She said the political parties had agreed to the amendments in their own vested interests. Disagreeing, Senator Pervaiz Rashid said that the objections should have been raised before the amendment, adding that “it was made in national interest.” He further told that the ministry had not received any reply from the Implementation Committee to the proposal that PTDC, governed by a Board of Governors, should be retained at the federal level.
Shahid Rashid said an institute in Swat, built with Austrian help, for training in tourism and hospitality was under the army’s occupation at present and there was no chance of its early vacation.
Earlier, taking notice of poor food quality and services of PIA, the committee directed the management of the airline to improve food quality and submit report in the next meeting in this regard.
