Dawn | 30 September 2009
By Our Staff Reporter
LAHORE: The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture on Tuesday told the Lahore High Court (LHC) that some foreign countries, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, were interested in investment in the agriculture sector, but no land had been leased or sold out so far to any of the countries.
The ministry stated this in reply to a petition of the Pakistan Kissan Board which challenged the proposed leasing out or sale of agricultural land to foreign countries.
The proposals of such countries were at a pre-feasibility stage and no commitment had been made so far with any country or private investor about leasing out of government or private land to any foreign investor, the ministry said.
It maintained that the federal government would minutely examine all aspects of foreign investment before taking any decision regarding leasing out the land. The court adjourned the hearing for Oct 6 with directions to the interior ministry to file a reply.
The Kissan Board had submitted that the government was ready to sell one million acres of agricultural land to foreign investors, out of which 500,000 acres in all four provinces had been offered to Saudi Arabia. The petitioner said the government of Qatar had also shown interest in purchase of agricultural land.
It is alleged that the land which is being offered for sale to Saudi Arabia is double the size of Hong Kong.
The petitioner pointed out that besides security risk, the poor peasants of the country would be hit hard by the deal. It requested the court to restrain the federal government from selling or leasing out land to foreign countries and rather distribute it among the local peasants.