Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Pervez Khattak on Friday formally opened the government Rest Houses for general public by launching their paid reservation web portal.
The formal ceremony was held at the famous “Retreat House” Nathiagali, Abbottabad district which is one of the 15 rest houses handed over by different departments to Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP) and had been reserved for the use of the Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since ages.
Chief Secretary (CS) Amjad Ali Khan was first who offered his rest house to TCKP for commercial use by common people / tourists under commercialisation policy of the present KPK government.
The chief guest for the function was Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan while Secretary General of the PTI, Jahangir Tareen, the Provincial Minister Mushtaq Ahmed Ghanio, Advisor to the CM for tourism, Amjad Afridi, Senator Mohsin Aziz, MNAs Sajida Zulfiqar and Dr. Azhar Jadoon, Secretary Information PTI, Naeemul Haq, Chairman DDAC Abbottabad, Sardar Muhammad Idrees, Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Amjad Ali Khan, Secretary Tourism, Muhammad Azam Khan, MD Tourism Mushtaq Ahmed, Commissioner Hazara, Mr. Akbar Khan were also in attendance.
In the first phase, on 25 June a total of 15 rest houses were notified to be transferred to TCKP which included Retreat House Nathiagali, Karnak House, Police Rest House Nathiagali, Inspection Bungalow Murree, Forest Rest House Thandiani, Additional Cottage Nathiagali, Vendia Cottage Nathiagali, Pine Rest House Nathiagali, Forests Cottage Nathiagalai, Forest Rest House Dungagali, Forest Rest House Barian, TCKP Rest house Thandiani and European Cottage 29, 30 & 1.
TCKP has commercially used them from the third week in July 2015 and generated from them an amount of four million rupees so far.
The second phase of this includes transfer of another 13 rest houses to TCKP which includes, Fan House Nathiagali, Speaker House Nathiagali, C&W House Nathiagali, Inspection Bungalow Nathiagali, Blue Pine Cottage Nathiagali, Shimla House Nathiagali, C&W House Nathiagali, C&W Rest house Changlagali, C&W Rest House Thandiani, Dugree Inspection Hut, Birangali Forest Rest House, Dak Bungalow Nathiagali, Changla Gali Rest house and GDA Rest House Khanaspur.
Speaking at the ceremony Imran Khan stated “we are all gathered here at Retreat House, which was previously used by Chief Secretary has brought a unique change by being the first one to be handed over to TCKP. Similarly secretary C&W voluntarily offered transfer of Raees Khana Nathiagali to TCKP.”
He also said though it seems to be a small thing but this is a philosophy that will pave way for making the new Pakistan through generating taxes. He claimed that Rs. 20 million was spent on these rest houses from the provincial exchequer and now they will generate money.
He said that an independent authority will be set up which will manage these rest houses and wont be through private leasing. The revenue to be generated from these rest houses will be spent on local development of Galiyat region.
Governor House is another example which is a burden on tax payer. It is always empty and the Governor barely visits. We need to stop such practices, which will lead to a new tax culture.
He also said that new amendments have been initiated in the GDA which will give it more autonomy and powers to bring out a positive change which will lead to more employment and revenues for the region
On this occasion the Chief Minister launched a Website of TCKP Rest House.The web portal is now open to public. This site includes not only booking of rest houses but also tour guides options. The website also includes great amount of information of different rest houses, statistics, pictures and attractions like nearby scenic opportunities for tourists.
