–Shafqat, along with incumbent and former HEC chairman, to formulate a plan in this regard
–Decisions regarding Sindh to be finalised after consultations with the provincial govt
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has decided to convert the Prime Minister House into a state-of-the-art postgraduate university and the governor houses into museums while the decision regarding the fate of President House would be taken in the next phase.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has acted on his promise of not living in the Prime Minister House and has decided to convert it into a postgraduate university.
Shafqat, who was heading the committee formed to decide the fate of government-owned buildings, said that State Guest House will be converted into a five-star hotel, 90th Street Hall will be converted into a convention centre and Government House, Lahore, will be converted into an art gallery to promote tourism, education and arts in the country.
He said that the PM House is located on 1096 kanals of land and Rs470 million was its annual maintenance cost. He also said that construction work would be carried out on the unused areas of the establishment.
The minister also said that he, along with Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri and former HEC chairman Attaur Rehman, would formulate a formal plan in this regard.
He said that as per the policy of the incumbent government, the governors of the provinces will not live in the governor houses and the buildings will be converted into museums.
The minister also shared the maintenance expenses of state-owned buildings and said that those buildings will be used for the promotion of education, heritage, tourism and art.
PUNJAB:
Shafqat said that the Governor House in Lahore, which spreads over an area of 700 kanals, will be converted into a museum and an art gallery while the schools and vocational training institutes located on its compound will be separated. The property’s grounds will be opened to the public and will also include a small zoo, he added.
He said that the former Punjab chief minister was using 90 Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam in Lahore as one of his offices and its annual maintenance cost was Rs80 million. It would be converted into a craft museum and hall within it would be changed into a convention centre which would be rented out for events, he added.
The Chamba House in Lahore, he said, will be the office of the incumbent Punjab governor.
The minister further revealed that the State Guest House located on Mall Road in Lahore, the annual maintenance cost of which is Rs5 million, will be converted into a five-star hotel. The Punjab House, with a Governor’s Annexe spreading over 70 kanals attached to it, will either be converted into a IT institute or the National College of Arts, Rawalpindi will be shifted to it, he added.
He said that Government House in Murree will be transformed into a complex for tourists while the Governor House there will be turned into a heritage boutique hotel in order to promote tourism in Pakistan.
Revealing a little about the process, he said that the private sector would be actively involved in the transformation work whereas the formalities would be chalked out by the government in this regard.
SINDH:
Speaking about the state-owned buildings in Sindh, he said that the federal government has decided to transform the Governor House, Karachi, into a museum and make its grounds available for public use. The State Guest House will be used as the Governor House, he added.
The minister said that Kasr-e-Khas, an important state-owned building, will be converted into a five-star hotel.
However, Shafqat made it clear that all these decisions will be finalised after consultations with the Sindh government.
KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA:
Shafqat said that Governor House in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) will be turned into a museum because there are over 30,000 antiques in KP Museum’s basement which could not be displayed due to shortage of space.
Moreover, he said that Nathiagali House, another beautiful building located at a scenic place, will be converted into a state-of-the-art hotel resort which would help generate revenue for the government.
BALOCHISTAN:
Shafqat said that like other provinces, it was decided that the Governor House in Balochsitan would be converted into a museum to promote tourism in the region since there are no museums in Quetta.
He also revealed that PM Khan has proposed that the ground within the Governor House should be converted into a public park for women.
