I have great respect for Mr. Abdul Qadir Hassan. However there is nothing become scary. We all know that Dubai and Saudi Arabia have in the past few years opened up land ownership (on long lease) to foreigners. That does not mean they have sold their country. Lets analyse the situation of Pakistan. Pakistan has total area of about 80 million hectares of which cropped area is only 22 million hectares. 4 million ha is un-irrigated while 8 million ha is culturable waste. Our oil consumption is 373,000 barrels per day and our own oil production is slightly over 12,000 bpd. I am not sure about the authenticity of the news, but if that is true, the government should negotiate better terms with KSA. For example: (1) provide them the land that is not in agricultural use; (2) Require them to employ Pakistani labour; (2) A percentage (20%) of produce to be sold in Pakistan; (3) Establish a state of the art agriculture university & research centre to provide opportunities to Pakistan nationals to enroll themselves; (4) Arrange for their own water / irrigation arrangement. There could be other possibilities as well. Let me assure you dear Abdul Qadir Hassan Sahib, if the government will not try to negotiate, then prime land would be provided by private land owners. A few years back about 33,000 land in Balochistan was acquired by UAE through a deal with local land owners. They are using Mirani Dam water to grow Alfa Alfa and the whole production is being exported with no benefit to Pakistan. I would request the government especially the Board of Investment to strike a deal that benefits the nation.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 08:10:57 +0000
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