Govt to turn One Constitution Avenue tower into five-star hotel
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar says the law will apply equally in the case, after a joint investigation team reported irregularities in the Islamabad project.
The federal government said on Wednesday that Islamabad's One Constitution Avenue, a residential tower whose lease the city's development authority has cancelled, will be turned into a five-star hotel, after a joint investigation team reported irregularities and rigging in the project.
The Capital Development Authority cancelled the building's lease because the company behind the project had defaulted on payments, Dawn reported. The Islamabad High Court upheld that cancellation in April.
The tower was originally planned as a five-star hotel, according to Dawn, and later came to house apartments. It stands on the avenue that runs past Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister's Office.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told a press conference in Islamabad that the law would be applied equally in the One Constitution Avenue case. "Neither influential individuals nor wealthy people would be allowed to escape accountability," APP quoted him as saying.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry appeared at the press conference with him, APP reported. The state news agency led its report with Tarar's statement that no one is above the law and that "bonafide investors" would be protected. APP did not say which investors it meant or what protection they would receive.
Neither report said when work on the conversion would start, what would happen to the people who own or live in apartments in the building, or which company would run the hotel. Dawn did not name the firm behind the project or give the size of the unpaid amount.
The findings of the joint investigation team were announced by the government rather than by the CDA or the high court. Dawn's report did not say when the team was formed or which agencies took part in it.
The cancellation upheld in April followed the CDA's move against the developer over the default. The tower was among the tallest residential addresses on Constitution Avenue before the lease dispute.
How the reports differ
Dawn led with the government's announcement that a joint investigation team had found irregularities and rigging in the One Constitution Avenue project, and reported that the tower, first planned as a hotel, would be converted into one. APP led instead with Information Minister Attaullah Tarar's remarks that no one is above the law and that bonafide investors would be protected, and its report as carried did not mention the investigation team's finding or the hotel conversion. Dawn cited the April Islamabad High Court ruling upholding the CDA lease cancellation; APP's report did not refer to the court.
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