The Ministry of Maritime Affairs has advertised the post of chairman of the Pakistan Islands Development Authority.
The authority was created through a September 2, 2020 ordinance, without the approval of the Senate and National Assembly as they were not in session as “the president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is satisfied that circumstance exist which render it necessary to take immediate action.”
Environmental lawyer Zubair Ahmed highlighted the issue on Twitter.
The authority was established for the development and management of the islands in the internal waters and territorial waters of Pakistan.
Part of the chairman’s job will be to “initiate and maintain a continuous process of reclamation, master planning, urban planning, spatial planning for the specified areas,” according to the Ordinance. The “specified areas” are islands in the internal and territorial waters listed in the First Schedule.
The First Schedule includes Bundal and Buddo Islanads, according to Ahmed.
The chairman will also “identify immovable properties and projects suitable for the development of schemes within the specified areas” and “promote and stimulate the specified areas as trade, investment and logistics centres and hubs, duty free areas and international tourist destinations”.
“Under Section 3 ownership of these two islands vest in the federal government and the authority shall possess, control, manage and deal with the islands,” noted Ahmed. However, he said under Article 172 (2) of the Constitution both islands are property of the provincial government.
Article 172 (2) says that “all lands, minerals and other things of value within the continental shelf or underlying the ocean beyond the territorial waters of Pakistan shall vest in the federal government”.
According to Article 172 (3), “subject to the existing commitments and obligations, mineral oil and natural gas within the province or the territorial waters adjacent thereto shall vest jointly and equally in that province and the federal government”.
Ahmed also noted that Article 152 of the Constitution provides the procedure for the acquisition of provincial land by the federal government. “If the federal government deems necessary to acquire any land situate in a province for any purpose connected with a matter with respect to which it has power to make laws, it requires the province to acquire the land on its behalf, and expense or, if the land belongs to the province, to transfer it to the federal government on such terms as may be agreed or, in default of agreement, as may be determined by an arbitrator appointed by the CJP,” he said.
The advertisement for the chairman of the authority specifies that they must be a serving or retired BPS-22 officer of the government or a serving or a retired officer of the armed forces not below the rank of a lieutenant-general or equivalent. The chairman could also be an experienced professional or business person with not less than 15 years of experience and possesses a masters’ degree recognised by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan in the field of accounting, finance, business administration, management, commerce, engineering, economics, planning, law, real estate, urban development or chartered accountancy, cost and management accountancy, barrister-at-law or solicitor.
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