ISLAMABAD: Land worth billions of rupees along Gadani beach, belonging to the cashstrapped Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (P TDC), has been occupied illegally, according to sources.

The sources say that land measuring about 74 acres has been occupied by a private company called MK Pakistan, which has set up a fish harbour there.

Initially the PTDC administration turned a `blind eye` to `land grabbing` by the firm but some of its officials are now trying to strike an `illegal` deal with the same company for a `profitsharing` venture.

According to the sources, the firm has refused to vacate the land and claimed that it has spent hundreds of millions for establishing a fish harbour andconstructingahuge buildingonit.

`The MK Pakistan has instead offered to set up a joint venture and share with the PTDC prof-its from the business being run by it,` a source said.

However, he said, the PTDC could not enter into any such agreement because the company had illegally occupied the land which must be vacated. `Once the land has been retrieved, the PTDC may enter into a joint venture but before that is done the corporation has to meet all legal formalities and relevant rules, including the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules,` he said.

The PTDC bought more than 100 acres of land inGadaniover40yearsagobuttheland wasnot utilized at all.

The PTDC`s Managing Director, Chaudhry Kabir, confirmed that the corporation`s land had been illegally occupied and that the officers of his organisation had done nothing to stop `land grabbing`.

`I have ordered a departmental inquiry to proceed against the officials responsible for the fiasco,` he said.

He said a three-member committee set up byhim had visited Gadani recently and found that the land been given to the MK Pakistan by Balochistan government.

He said that when the matter was taken up with the provincial government it said it had leased out the land to the private company by mistake.

Mr Kabir said the PTDC now had three options to sell the land, lease it out or go into a profitsharing venture with the same firm which had occupie d it illegally.

He said he would place the three options before the PTDC board for an appropriate decision on the matter.

Answering a question, he said the PTDC would meet all legal formalities by adopting one of the three options. `We will follow the PPRA rules and will give advertisement in national dailies to invite firms interested in the PTDC land,` he remarked.

The PTDC is already suffering from `halfhearted devolution` of the tourism ministry under the 18th amendment of the Constitution.