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US may have to shell out five times more for acquiring land for Islamabad embassy | The United States may have to shell out more money for
the land it had acquired for the expansion of its Islamabad embassy, as the Pakistan Foreign Office has suggested increasing the rate of the piece of the land provided to the US. According to sources, the Foreign Office has submitted a report to
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani suggesting that the rate of the land offered
to the US for the expansion of the Islamabad embassy should be increased to 80,000
rupees per square yard from the existing 15,000 rupees per square yard. The report
said the US embassy should pay the difference failing which the size of the plot
should be reduced to the originally earmarked 18.5 acres. It said that while all
other foreign missions had been asked to pay 80,000 rupees per square yard, it
was only the US to which the land was being allotted at an older rate. When enquired
about the issue, a Capital Development Authority (CDA) official said the American
officials have not yet been given an authority letter of the plot. "The US authorities
have so far not been given offer letter and only the Foreign Office had been informed
that the CDA will charge at the rate of 15,000 rupees per square yard for additional
land," The Dawn quoted the official, as saying. It is worth mentioning here that
the Obama Administration is about to spend 405 million dollars for the reconstruction
and refurbishment of the main embassy building and 111 million dollars for constructing
a new complex for 330 personnel. A further 197 million dollars would be spent
for construction of a housing unit for about 250 personnel. 18 acres of land has
already been acquired by the US for the project for a meager one billion rupees,
and a Turkish firm has already built a 153-room compound for the embassy, sources
said. The US is also planning to send about 1000 additional staff to Pakistan,
where 750 US officials are already stationed against a sanctioned strength of
only 350 personnel, fanning speculations regarding its intentions. |
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