// //

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s embassy building in Tokyo was sold out at a throwaway price in 2007 after a huge spending on its renovation, ostensibly on a pretext that later proved to be false.

An investigation carried out by Dawn revealed that the deal, which had been kept a “guarded secret”, was made on a false pretext that under metropolitan rules and regulations there was a bar on construction beyond three storeys.

The construction of a seven-storey building on the same land makes the deal all the more questionable.

Interestingly, no tenders were called for the sale of the property and the deal with a construction company was struck without following an open and transparent procedure.

The twin-building housing the chancery and the ambassador’s residence, built on a plot measuring 2249.10 square metres, was sold for 6.3 billion yen.

The price was evaluated by an “independent assessor” on the assumption that no more than three storeys could be constructed on the land. The actual value of the land at the time of sale was stated to be around 12 billion yen.

The then ambassador, Kamran Niaz, returned to Pakistan after retirement in 2008 and is currently on the board of directors of Aisha Steel Mills Karachi — a $100 million project.

Other directors are Arif Habib, Chairman of the Arif Habib Group; Satoru Oki and Yoshikazu Uda, of Metal One Japan and Hasibur Rehman, of Universal Metal Corporation, Japan.

The then head of the chancery of Pakistan Embassy in Tokyo, Asghar Ali Golo, is currently a director in the ministry of foreign affairs.

Amjad Iqbal Janjua, Chairman of the Human Rights Council of Pakistan (Japan chapter), told Dawn on phone from Tokyo that the deal had been kept secret from the Pakistani community in Japan.
He said that after coming to know about the shady deal, about 100 Pakistanis held a peaceful demonstration outside the Pakistan Embassy in Tokyo on Nov 28, 2008.

They demanded an investigation into the alleged kickbacks in the deal, but their voice fell on deaf ears.

Kamran Niaz, the former ambassador, defended the deal as it had helped “save $10 million per year which was being incurred on the accommodation of embassy staff”.

He said the then head of chancery had stated on record that not more than three storeys could be built on the property, but tried to downplay the controversy by saying that “we are not technical people”.

He said that under the deal, the buyer had borne the construction cost of Chancery and ambassador’s residence and paid rent for the building temporarily hired during construction.

He said the new building had more parking space and residential apartments for eight officers and 16 staff.

The accommodation built for free of cost would mean saving of one million US dollars annually, Mr Niaz added.

He said the consortium which had purchased the old building would also provide free maintenance for 15 years.

The deal had been finalised only after a formal approval by the government. He said the deal was in line with a decision of the Musharraf government to cut down expenses on rentals.

The former ambassador rejected allegations that he had received kickbacks and invested the money in a steel mill project. He said he was on the board of directors of Aisha Steel without investing a single penny.