ISLAMABAD: A burden of billions of rupees has been put on the national exchequer to bring back the government ally, Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti, into the ruling alliance again.
He was angry at non-fulfilment of his demands for long. It has been learnt on authority that Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) Managing Director Shahid Salim has increased the rent of additional 2,500 acres of land, owned by Bugti in Balochistan, by 36 per cent.
Now, the OGDCL will pay Rs79,000 per acre rent annually to Mr Bugti, though the land is not in use of the company since February 2017. Former managing director of OGDCL, Zahid Mir, in 2016 maintained the lease of 1,300-acre land, but surrendered 2,500 acres to the owner as its lease was causing unwanted financial burden on the state-owned exploration and production company.
Shahid Salim confirmed the development to the scribe, saying in 2016, the then OGDCL management had de-hired the land in writing, but physically it was not surrendered, as there were some security installations on it, which were not dismantled at that time. Therefore, he had entered into a new agreement with Bugtis for re-hiring of the land, he added.
The MD said that gas fields, residential areas of OGDCL employees were situated on the lands of Bugtis, and the state-owned company continued exploring the area and production activities there. He said that when the new lease agreement was over, a new Pandora’s Box would be opened as factually 28,000 acres of land was under the use of the security staff, which had established their pickets and some settlements.
Salim Khan confirmed that the rent of 2,500 acres of land had been increased by 36 per cent in the new agreement, saying every year the rent increases by 12 per cent and the OGDC would have to pay the rent from 2016-17. However, he claimed that he did not take any decision under pressure.
However, the top official sources insisted that the OGDCL MD had included in the lease the abandoned land on the government directives, which would put a huge burden of Rs8 billion on the exchequer.
According to the official documents, available with The News, on the orders of the OGDCL MD, the management opened its offices late at night and handed over a cheque of Rs770.23 million to two brothers of Shahzain Bugti.
However, the special committee confirmed that 800 acres of land was in the OGDCL use. The OGDCL pays Rs50,000 rent for one acre of fertile land in Sindh and Punjab, where it has oil and gas fields, and is busy in more exploration and production activities.
The ODCL board of directors refused to approve the payments as rent on additional land and denied extending the lease period of more lands, owned by Bugtis, till 2036.
As per the documents, available with The News, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is already investigating the payments, made for the land, which is not under any utility. But the incumbent managing director, by ‘misusing’ his authority under pressure from the federal government, has burdened the national exchequer more after signing a new lease agreement with Shahzain Bugti.
In Dec 2016, the OGDCL, under clause 10 of the Lease Agreement, issued notice of de-hiring of 2,930 acres of land. The land owners challenged the decision in the Islamabad High Court which, on Feb 25, 2019, rejected the petition of land owners. Then the land owners filed an intra-court appeal in the IHC. The lease agreement had expired in Dec 2017, and NAB had started a probe into additional payments for 2,930 acres of land since 2016, 2017.
Now, in the new scenario, as per documents, the OGDCL entered into the lease agreement with Nawab Akbar Bugti in 1995 about 730 acres of land and, in 1996, the land increased to 1,325 acres and in 2000, more land was hired on the demand of Nawab Akbar Bugti, taking the number to 4,304 acres of land on lease. After the death of Nawab Bugti in 2006, the Islamabad High Court identified the legitimate heirs of the land of 4,304 acres, who were Shahzain Bugti and Mir Guhram Bugti and Mir Chakar Bugti.
On behalf of the OGDCL, a de-hiring notice was issued under clause 10 of the Lease Agreement to Shahzain Bugti, Guhram Bugti and Chakar Bugti. Under the agreement, the OGDCL could de-hire land on two-month notice. The OGDCL had de-hired 2,500 acres of land in 2016.
