PESHAWAR: High-ups at the defunct Sarhad Development Authority (SDA) have pointed out complications in the dissolution of the authority and the handing over of its assetstotheKhyberPakhtunkhwaEconomic Zones Development and Management Company (EZDMC).

On July 22, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had promulgated an ordinance to dissolve the SDA and hand over its assets to the EZDMC.

The ordinance was issued after the Peshawar High Court declared the transfer of the authority`s assets to company illegal inMarch this year, as the SDA was set up under an assembly act and could not dispensed through the executive order.

However, defunct SDA`s chairman Sajid Jadoon has written a letter to the industries secretary pointing out legal issues and complications in the promulgation of the KP Taking Over of Industrial Estates or Economic Zones Ordinance 2016.

The July 28 letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, notes that the SDA was set up under the relevant 1972 Act for boosting economic activity and creating job opportunities in the province.

In the letter, Mr. Jadoon said the KP government had promulgated the ordinance on July 22, which required the transfer of SDA assets and liabilities along with its employees to the EZDMC.

He said Section 3 of the ordinance stated that all industrial estates or economic zones mentioned in the schedule thereto would stand transferred to the authority to the company and that the SDA would cease to exist.However, the defunct SDA`s chief noted that it was transpired, prima facie, that the authority defined in Section 2(b) of the ordinance would cease to exist after the completion of transfer of process of all industrial estates or economic zones to the EZDMC formally.

`In other words, the board of directors of SDA will transfer all the assets and liabilities including industrial estates and economic zones to the company,` he said.

Mr. Jadoon said while Section 3 of the ordinance made the formal declaration of the transfer of industrial estates, whereas the actualtransfergoverned by sections 4 and5 of the ordinance, which covered the dynamic and methods of the process, especially Section 5 about employees was qualified one since it talked about completion of option process was 60 days.

He noted that the defunct authority had also acquired land in Chitral and Mansehra for setting up industrial estates and had already deposited the costs of land.

The defunct SDA`s chief said both theschemes had not been mentioned or reflected in the ordinance`s schedule, where 10 industrial estates which were handed over to the company were named.

He said it had yet to be clarified what to do with the two schemes.

Mr. Jadoon pointed out that Section 4 of the ordinance provided for the transfer of industrial estates to the company only, whereas the law was silent about the status of the SDA head office located in Peshawar Saddar area, which also needed to be clarified through legislation.

He also said it might be clarified that whether the assets of the authority were to be transferred on book value or market value to be determined by the professional chartered accountant.

`In order to proceed further, the authority may be advised on the above-mentioned points and that if deemed appropriate, the law department may also be consulted in this regard to avoid further complications,` he added.