PML-N Political Desk
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Sheraton to say goodbye to Karachi
KARACHI: A Karachi icon, the majestic Sheraton Hotel, will close its doors in December this year in what will definitely be seen as a big setback to the efforts of the Nawaz Sharif government to restore international investor confidence in the metropolis.
The famous property will be taken over by the Swiss chain Mövenpick from Jan 1, 2014, officials said on Tuesday.The news broke as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was in Karachi and addressed important meetings, including a big gathering of Karachi business leaders, and told them to help his government restore confidence.
The decision to end the deal with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which runs the Sheraton brand across the world, has been taken by the Arabian Sea Enterprises Ltd., the owners of the Sheraton Karachi Hotel, which has decided not to renew the contract with the former after it ends on Dec. 31, sources familiar with the development said.
Instead, the company, owned by the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), has decided to enter into a 15-year deal with Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts - a Swiss-based international upscale hotel management company represented in 24 countries with 79 hotels, resorts and Nile cruisers in operation. “Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts havefinalised a management agreement with Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the owner of the hotel, to operate the property from January 1, 2014,” Toufic Tamim, Vice President Sales and Marketing - Middle East and South Asia of Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts, told The News.
The hotel will be renamed as Mövenpick Hotel Karachi.Tamim said the company plans to refurbish key areas of the hotel next year, and keep as many employees as possible.“As a Swiss company with a strong expansion strategy across Asia we consider Pakistan to be an important market for our brand development,” he added.
“We are in the process of transition, and we would like to welcome the incoming operator Mövenpick and wish the best to Starwood, who have served this hotel and the city for 30 years,” Sikander Mahmood, chief executive officer of the Arabian Sea Enterprises Ltd., told The News.
“The move will help protect the interests of the more than 600 employees of the hotel,” he said.The 16,487 square yard property, which with 407 rooms is the biggest hotel property in Pakistan, has operated as Sheraton Hotel since 1982.
“The main reason for not renewing the contract with Starwood was that Mövenpick offered a deal which had softer terms and was more lucrative financially,” a source with the direct knowledge of the deal said.
“It has been a tough time for the hotel industry after 2005, and the economic meltdown coupled with growing security concerns as well as unfavourable government policies has forced the owners of the hotel not to extend the contract with Sheraton, and hence they have opted for a deal which has softer terms and is more lucrative financially,” said the source.
He added that in 2005, the revenue from international guests made around 8-10 percent of the hotel’s total revenue, but the number has now fallen to less than 1 percent.“Even the international airlines are not coming in overnight — the revenue decline is massive,” he said, adding if the situation had been feasible, the company would have not thought twice and renewed the contract with Sheraton.
Representatives of the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi as well as the Starwood in Dubai declined any official comment, but Mövenpick as well as the Arabian Sea Enterprises confirmed the report.Toufic Tamim said the move was in line with the company’s development strategy to secure projects in key and emerging Asian markets.
KARACHI: A Karachi icon, the majestic Sheraton Hotel, will close its doors in December this year in what will definitely be seen as a big setback to the efforts of the Nawaz Sharif government to restore international investor confidence in the metropolis.
The famous property will be taken over by the Swiss chain Mövenpick from Jan 1, 2014, officials said on Tuesday.The news broke as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was in Karachi and addressed important meetings, including a big gathering of Karachi business leaders, and told them to help his government restore confidence.
The decision to end the deal with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which runs the Sheraton brand across the world, has been taken by the Arabian Sea Enterprises Ltd., the owners of the Sheraton Karachi Hotel, which has decided not to renew the contract with the former after it ends on Dec. 31, sources familiar with the development said.
Instead, the company, owned by the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), has decided to enter into a 15-year deal with Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts - a Swiss-based international upscale hotel management company represented in 24 countries with 79 hotels, resorts and Nile cruisers in operation. “Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts havefinalised a management agreement with Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the owner of the hotel, to operate the property from January 1, 2014,” Toufic Tamim, Vice President Sales and Marketing - Middle East and South Asia of Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts, told The News.
The hotel will be renamed as Mövenpick Hotel Karachi.Tamim said the company plans to refurbish key areas of the hotel next year, and keep as many employees as possible.“As a Swiss company with a strong expansion strategy across Asia we consider Pakistan to be an important market for our brand development,” he added.
“We are in the process of transition, and we would like to welcome the incoming operator Mövenpick and wish the best to Starwood, who have served this hotel and the city for 30 years,” Sikander Mahmood, chief executive officer of the Arabian Sea Enterprises Ltd., told The News.
“The move will help protect the interests of the more than 600 employees of the hotel,” he said.The 16,487 square yard property, which with 407 rooms is the biggest hotel property in Pakistan, has operated as Sheraton Hotel since 1982.
“The main reason for not renewing the contract with Starwood was that Mövenpick offered a deal which had softer terms and was more lucrative financially,” a source with the direct knowledge of the deal said.
“It has been a tough time for the hotel industry after 2005, and the economic meltdown coupled with growing security concerns as well as unfavourable government policies has forced the owners of the hotel not to extend the contract with Sheraton, and hence they have opted for a deal which has softer terms and is more lucrative financially,” said the source.
He added that in 2005, the revenue from international guests made around 8-10 percent of the hotel’s total revenue, but the number has now fallen to less than 1 percent.“Even the international airlines are not coming in overnight — the revenue decline is massive,” he said, adding if the situation had been feasible, the company would have not thought twice and renewed the contract with Sheraton.
Representatives of the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi as well as the Starwood in Dubai declined any official comment, but Mövenpick as well as the Arabian Sea Enterprises confirmed the report.Toufic Tamim said the move was in line with the company’s development strategy to secure projects in key and emerging Asian markets.
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Punjab refuses to give surplus wheat to PTI-led KP | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia
LAHORE -
The Punjab government has refused to give wheat to PTI-governed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, despite having a million tonnes of wheat in surplus, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The KP government in a letter written to Punjab’s Food Department requested for import of 400,000 tonnes of wheat to meet the shortage. However, the provincial regime in Punjab outright refused to give the favour to the province.
Insiders said Punjab was the major wheat producer in the country, while the crop in KP and Sindh was almost negligible, implying that the country’s largest province was actually the bread basket for the entire country. Sources in the government confided that Punjab had currently 4 million tonnes of wheat in surplus, while officials estimate the annual consumption of around three million tonnes in the most-populated province.
“The situation is pretty normal. We have ample stock for our needs and there is no fear of a shortage this year or the next,” Food Secretary Aslam Kamboh told Pakistan Today.
Even in the Wednesday’s session of the Punjab Assembly, the opposition, mostly consisting of PTI MPAs, pressed upon the government for giving wheat to KP, however, the government showed no signs of budging from its stance.
Senior officials also maintained there was no legal embargo on inter-provincial trade and provinces were free to trade commodities.
The Food Directorate, however, said the Punjab government did not refuse to sell them wheat. “We rather showed them the right path. PASSCO is actually the government agency responsible for procuring wheat from surplus areas and providing it to deficit provinces. We have only asked them to purchase it from PASSCO.”
Food Director Capt (r) Usman said TORs of PASSCO clearly mentioned that it was its job to address wheat shortage.
Adviser to KP CM on Food Qalandar Lodhi said KP wrote a letter to the Punjab government requesting for wheat supply, who asked them [the KPK government] to contact PASSCO.
“Now the first tranche of the supply of 100,000 tonnes of wheat from PASSCO is on its way,” Lodhi said. However, he said the KPK government requested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to waive off Rs 1.5 billion incidental charges on wheat, but the PM “regretted”.
“The PM, however, gave 150,000 tonnes of wheat in grant to the world bank’s food programme at a time when our province was in a crisis situation. The PM is the PM of all provinces, whichever party is ruling. We have decided to once again request the PM to make it a grant to ease the situation of people in the KP,” he added.
Food Secretary Aslam Kamboh, however, said the Punjab government had to cater to a huge population besides 900 flour mills across the province, and a shortage would result in unemployment and unrest.
- See more at: Punjab refuses to give surplus wheat to PTI-led KP | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia
LAHORE -
The Punjab government has refused to give wheat to PTI-governed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, despite having a million tonnes of wheat in surplus, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The KP government in a letter written to Punjab’s Food Department requested for import of 400,000 tonnes of wheat to meet the shortage. However, the provincial regime in Punjab outright refused to give the favour to the province.
Insiders said Punjab was the major wheat producer in the country, while the crop in KP and Sindh was almost negligible, implying that the country’s largest province was actually the bread basket for the entire country. Sources in the government confided that Punjab had currently 4 million tonnes of wheat in surplus, while officials estimate the annual consumption of around three million tonnes in the most-populated province.
“The situation is pretty normal. We have ample stock for our needs and there is no fear of a shortage this year or the next,” Food Secretary Aslam Kamboh told Pakistan Today.
Even in the Wednesday’s session of the Punjab Assembly, the opposition, mostly consisting of PTI MPAs, pressed upon the government for giving wheat to KP, however, the government showed no signs of budging from its stance.
Senior officials also maintained there was no legal embargo on inter-provincial trade and provinces were free to trade commodities.
The Food Directorate, however, said the Punjab government did not refuse to sell them wheat. “We rather showed them the right path. PASSCO is actually the government agency responsible for procuring wheat from surplus areas and providing it to deficit provinces. We have only asked them to purchase it from PASSCO.”
Food Director Capt (r) Usman said TORs of PASSCO clearly mentioned that it was its job to address wheat shortage.
Adviser to KP CM on Food Qalandar Lodhi said KP wrote a letter to the Punjab government requesting for wheat supply, who asked them [the KPK government] to contact PASSCO.
“Now the first tranche of the supply of 100,000 tonnes of wheat from PASSCO is on its way,” Lodhi said. However, he said the KPK government requested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to waive off Rs 1.5 billion incidental charges on wheat, but the PM “regretted”.
“The PM, however, gave 150,000 tonnes of wheat in grant to the world bank’s food programme at a time when our province was in a crisis situation. The PM is the PM of all provinces, whichever party is ruling. We have decided to once again request the PM to make it a grant to ease the situation of people in the KP,” he added.
Food Secretary Aslam Kamboh, however, said the Punjab government had to cater to a huge population besides 900 flour mills across the province, and a shortage would result in unemployment and unrest.
- See more at: Punjab refuses to give surplus wheat to PTI-led KP | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia
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dramay baz shebaz sharif...
Unfreedom
One of the greatest checks on excessive government power is the right of all citizens to get information about what their representatives are up to. The general principle which should be followed, but rarely is, when it comes to freedom of information laws is that all information should be available to the public except for the rare documents that concern national security. Just because a document reveals government wrongdoing or corruption is not sufficient reason to hide it from public view. The PML-N, however, has turned this ideal on its head with its draft of the freedom of information law. The draft bill seems to be trying its very best to ensure that citizens receive as little information as possible. If a request for information is deemed to be ‘malicious’ or ‘frivolous’ – although the desire to keep a tab on government activity should never be described as such – a fine of up to Rs10,000 can be imposed. To further discourage disclosure, individual departments have the right to decide if they want to make documents public, with the ombudsman only able to advise them, rather than order them, on which course of action to take. Add to that a burdensome fee that must be paid for each request and the freedom of information law begins to sound like an oddly misnamed law.
The PML-N already had two other laws dealing with the same matter to use as a guide: Pervez Musharraf’s 2002 Freedom of Information Ordinance and the PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Ordinance. The two laws are poles apart, with Musharraf’s a masterpiece in obfuscation and doublespeak while the PTI one a model for those who welcome disclosure and accountability. The PML-N opted to use the dictator’s law as a model. It is also unlikely that the opposition parties will clamour for the law to be strengthened since they too might be in power one day and would also prefer not to be scrutinised. Any law that allows our representatives and bureaucrats to operate in the shadows while the public remains unaware of their doings should not be passed by parliament. The PML-N needs to scrap this bill and go back to the drawing board. Even apart from the PTI provincial bill, there are many better examples of freedom of information legislation the government can look at as a guide.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-8-200104-Unfreedom
typical haramkhoro ki party pmln
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