HCP lease, rent issues resolved

KARACHI: PHF president Khalid Khokhar and secretary Shahbaz Ahmed had a busy day in the city on Tuesday, meeting with authorities to resolve the issues of the Hockey Club of Pakistan (HCP).
The HCP is facing a lot of problems as its lease issue has remained unresolved for a long time. The rents of its shops, offices and warehouses have not been enhanced for a long time. A blue turf which has been imported for it has not yet been laid and is lying under open sky due to poor condition of its base. Sources in the PHF said that the Khokhar and Shahbaz were successful in getting the rents enhanced. They made the tenants agree to enhance the rents and cantonment authorities also agreed, sources said.
The sources said that the HCP lease issue was a longstanding issue and Pakistan Army authorities were ready to extend the lease. How much the extension would be could not be ascertained.
Khokhar and Shahbaz are likely to visit Hyderabad on the invitation of its district association.
It is expected that during the visit the PHF top officials would announce a development package for the national game at the grassroots level.
They also met with former Olympians and other members of hockey fraternity.
Olympians Samiullah and Hanif Khan discussed with PHF bosses many issues related to the national game.
Khokhar, when contacted, said that HCP issues would be resolved as steps have been taken in this regard. “We came here to save the status of HCP which is the house of our hockey history,” he said. He said that the base of the HCP was in poor condition. It would be developed anew which would take some time, he said.
He said he expected the blue turf project at HCP to complete by the end of the year. He added the electricity bill of HCP would be paid in installments.