ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is all set to allot over 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of land to the Pakistan Army for the construction of new general headquarters (GHQ) and other military offices in Islamabad.

The army had shelved its plan of moving the GHQ from Rawalpindi to Islamabad in 2008-09 due to financial constraints and on the instructions of the then army chief, Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, said a report.

It now wants possession of the land at the earliest so that construction work can be started and the GHQ is moved to the federal capital.

CDA officials said that at a high-level meeting issues regarding the Defence Complex, which will be constructed on 138 acres, were discussed in detail.

The meeting was informed that a formal allotment letter has not been issued due to an outstanding annual ground rent of Rs84 million. It was decided that the ground rent will be waived off as it was the CDA’s fault to not hand over possession of the land to the army for the construction of offices.

An official said a decision regarding 293 acres of land in D-11 sector was also taken and the CDA will now be issuing an allotment letter for it in a week as possession of the land has already been handed over to the army.

The meeting was told that 870 acres of land in Zone III of the capital to the north of E-10 and D-11 sector was allotted to the defence complex for the construction of an office for the GHQ, Joint Staff Head Quarters and Ministry of Defence (MoD).