ISLAMABAD – Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood has announced thatgovernor houses and other state-owned buildings will be made into publicspaces.
Prime Minister House in Islamabad will be converted into a higher educationinstitution, he announced. The yearly expenditure on PM House is Rs470million, he said.
Punjab House in Murree is being made into a tourist complex, said Mahmood.
Governor House in Lahore is spread over 87.5 acres of land and has a mainhouse, staff quarters, separate schools for girls and boys and a vocationaltraining institute, he told the media. The schools and vocational traininginstitute will be separated from the main structure and Governor House willbe made into a museum and art gallery, announced the minister.
There is also a small zoo in the compound and that and the grounds will beopened up to the public as well, he said. There is already a massive artcollection at the official residence.
Another measure to be taken is that the wall of the compound facing MallRoad will be demolished and a fence erected so that people can see what’sinside.
There is a building in Lahore, 90 Sharae Quaid-e-Azam, that used to be acraft museum that was converted into an office by former chief ministerShehbaz Sharif, said Mahmood. The cost of maintaining that building wasRs80 million a year.
We will make that into a craft museum again and the hall below it will beused as a convention centre. He said the hall will be rented out togenerate income.
Chamba House in Lahore, a smaller historical structure, will be used as thegovernor’s office. The minister announced that the State Guest House onMall Road, which is spread across 16.5 acres of land, will be convertedinto a five-star hotel. It costs Rs5 million to maintain it but it’s rarelyused, he said.
In Karachi, Sindh Governor House will be converted into a museum and thegrounds will be made into an urban forest. Mahmood said that this decisionhas been made with the support of the Sindh government and they will beconsulting with the provincial government to implement this.
State Guest House in Karachi will be designated as the new Governor House.
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Mahmood said that there is a Qasr-e-Naz, or country club, in Karachi thatis being used as a rest hosue by government officers. It is in a primelocation, located near the Pearl Continental and Metropole, and has 30suites, along with VIP blocks, he said.
This residence costs Rs12.5 million to maintain, he explained.
Governor House in Balochistan will also be made into a museum. This isespecially exciting news for residents of the province since there are nomuseums in Balochistan. The museum will focus on Baloch history, saidMahmood.
On the orders of the prime minister, the grounds and park of BalochistanGovernor House will be separated to make a women-only park.
In Peshawar, the Governor House will be converted into a museum while thegrounds will be made into a botanical garden. The official residence inNathia Gali will be made into a resort-hotel.
Mahmood said that the rest of the structures, rest houses and otherofficial residences, will be decided about as they go.
In the second phase they will make a decision about Sindh House, PunjabHouse and other official residences in Islamabad.
Speaking about the timeline for the projects, the minister said that thenew university needs a PC-1, but the Governor Houses are ready and can beopened up tomorrow.
The heritage value of the buildings will not be changed, he clarified. Themoney saved from these properties is about Rs1.15 billion a year, he said,adding that while some money will obviously be spent on the maintenance ofthese buildings, they will by and large be made into income generatingprojects.
