The Senate Standing Committee On Agriculture was informed on Thursday by the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) authorities that the cancellation of National Agriculture Research Centre’s (NARC) land lease by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) was illegal as it was built on a sovereign guarantee with the assistance of United States and Japan.
Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah chaired the meeting. PARC Chairman Dr. Iftikhar contested the lease cancellation and claimed that it was built with the USAID assistance in 1975 after the government of Pakistan gave a sovereign guarantee. Japan also provided assistance for the labs. “Only the parliament can revoke a guarantee given by the state and not the clerks of CDA.”
CDA Estate Management Director Saba Asim said that the lease expired in 2005 and a cancellation letter was issued in March this year after NARC failed to reply to repeated notices. She said the building structures made in the research farms were illegal and no permission was taken.
However, Secretary Ministry of National Food Security Seerat Asghar said that never in the past has CDA raised these objections, which he has heard only at the meeting. The committee sought the complete record from CDA and NARC to settle the issue.
The committee expressed serious concerns over the quality of locally made tractors. Minister National Food Security Sikandar Bosan termed them third class and said that they need overhauling even before the completion of 100 hours services.
He said that the two tractor operators were operating like cartel. Their quality has gone down and there is no agency to check their performance. “We visited Belarus and are seeking their investment to set up a tractor assembly plant in the country,” he said.
The committee decided to call a meeting of farming representatives to look into their concerns about the performance of locally made tractors and then issue necessary directives to the manufacturers.
