Dhaka, Jan 12 (bdnews24.com)—A parliamentary watchdog has budged from its position and suggested that the government settles its dispute with a private firm over construction of a hotel on the airport premises.
The parliamentary standing committee on civil aviation ministry on Tuesday said the government should agree to IPCO's proposition and give away 25 acres.
The committee observed that the government would not benefit from legal proceedings against IPCO, which was given a contract to construct a hotel-cum-golf club ahead of the NAM summit in 2002.
The committee had recommended on April 21 that the deal with IPCO be scrapped for its violating contract and legal actions be initiated, if necessary.
As per the recommendation, the civil aviation ministry went into a legal battle to cancel the deal because the company could not start constructing the hotel within a year and a half of signing the deal.
Committee member Moinuddin Khan Badal, after the committee meeting Tuesday, told reporters that IPCO may agree to leave its claim over 315 bighas (105 acres) if the government gave them 25 acres of land.
"As per the contract, I think the government cannot do anything by going into legal actions," Badal, flanked by the committee chairman Mosharraf Hossain, told reporters at parliament's media centre.
Mosharraf Hossain was civil aviation minister when the deal was awarded to IPCO.
"I have not changed our position," Badal told reporters when asked why the committee shifted from its previous position.
"We are not negotiating for the company."
The current value of 130 acres is about Tk 4,000 crore, according to the land registration office.
If the government gives 25 acres to IPCO, the state would incur a loss of Tk 800 crore, the registration office sources say.
The civil aviation ministry early last year attempted to cancel the deal to regain the costly land adjacent to the country's largest airport.
Civil aviation minister has told the standing committee several times in the past that construction of the hotel cum golf course was "unnecessary" as the government in 2001 decided not to host the NAM summit.
"So, why should we go for hotel construction? We need the land for future expansion of the airport," he told the meeting adding that the government should compensate the company financially, if necessary, according to a committee member.
He said the committee should not discuss the issue as the case was pending with the court.
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