LAHORE: The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has decided to outsource the operation of its sports complexes, beginning with the one in Gulberg. The LDA administration has also approved the preparation of a viable plan to gradually transfer management of the sports complexes to the private sector, Dawn has learned.

“The response from the public regarding memberships has not been very encouraging; therefore, we have decided to outsource the operation of the sports complexes so that private parties can market and run them in a more professional manner,” LDA Director General Mr Tahir Farooq said.

“We will start with the Gulberg Sports Complex, where the number of members is very low despite it being a state-of-the-art facility.”

In 2012/13, the LDA completed a sports complex in Johar Town, which attracted a significant number of members. Currently, over 2,000 families are enrolled at this complex. Following the success of the Johar Town facility, the government decided to construct 11 more sports complexes in 2016/17, located in Gulberg, Sabzazar Housing Scheme, Santnagar (Islamia Ground), Tajpura, Minar-e-Pakistan, China Scheme, Kahna, Singhpura, Shahdra, Canal Road (near EME), and Shalimar.

Under the plan, five of these complexes were built on land provided by various government departments, while the remaining six were constructed on LDA-owned land. The LDA was designated as the executing agency for all 11 complexes.

Currently, four of the 11 complexes are operational. These include Gulberg, which was completed at a cost of over Rs1.1 billion, as well as the Sabzazar, Santnagar, and Tajpura sports complexes, which cost Rs900 million, Rs600 million and Rs570 million respectively. Work on the Shalimar, Kahna, Singhpura, and Canal Road (EME) complexes is approximately 90% complete, while other complexes are between 50% and 70% complete.

An LDA engineering wing officer stated, “We have requested the government to provide additional funds to complete the remaining sports complexes.”

He said the number of members in total at Sabzazar has reached to 400 whereas Gulberg Sports Complex is still far behind, as the number of members here is just 30 or so.

“In a recent meeting, the LDA DG was of the view that operation of sports complexes must be given to private sector as it can run such facilities in a more professional way. During meeting the DG also asked the officers concerned to also reduce membership fee in order to attract more and more families,” the official quoted the DG as having said.

The LDA assumed administrative, operational and maintenance control of these sports complexes last year after the Local Government and Community Development Department (LGCD) accepted a proposal in this regard. As per the approved PC-1 of this mega project, the local government department was supposed to function as the operator and maintenance agency for all the sports complexes.

However, later it revealed that the LGCD department lacked the relevant experience and expertise to manage such modern sports facilities effectively. Considering the LDA’s experience in managing the Johar Town sports complex for the past decade, which saw the sale of nearly 1,300 family memberships resulting in an annual turnover of over Rs150 million, it deemed crucial to operate and maintain all sports complex projects to the highest standards. Therefore, the proposal had suggested engaging an experienced third-party through a revenue-sharing model to ensure management in line with market standards and generate sustainable income.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2024