Musharraf’s dream farmhouse almost ready

ISLAMABAD, October 14 (Internews): Former Pakistan president General (retired) Pervez Musharraf’s under-construction farmhouse in Islamabad’s Chak Shehzad orchard scheme will be handed over to him early next month.

“The completion of the house, built on the five-acre farm, is now in final stages,” Musharraf’s architect Hammad Hussain, who is supervising the construction, said in an interview published in The News daily Tuesday.

However, he said even after its handing over to Musharraf considerable more time would be needed for him to shift because several things like buying and transportation of furniture, construction of servant quarters and any additional structure for security purposes and interior decoration would be required before his moving there.

Hussain believed that Musharraf was expected to shift to the farmhouse after Eid-ul-Adha in December. The general slowdown of activities in the month of Ramadan somewhat delayed the completion of the premises, he said.

The young architect, who often meets the former president in connection with the construction of his house, always finds Musharraf in high morale. “I don ’t notice any change in his spirits and sense of humour,” he said. “He mostly spends his time playing tennis, squash and bridge apart from his other activities.”

Hussain said lots of people keep meeting Musharraf, who often has a very busy schedule. On Eid-ul-Fitr, he said, he found retired and serving army men, politicians and many others greeting him at his Army House residence in Rawalpindi.

The former president has “highly lucrative” invitations to speak in the United States and some western countries, but he did not want to avail them for the time being as he was “extremely conscious” about his image that even his visit to America for this purpose would emit a very negative message about him.

“People would start saying that Musharraf has fled the country. He is very mindful about such things,” a source, having interaction with him, said.

Musharraf also has invitations to deliver lecture in some countries of the Middle East. He is likely to avail of some of them. His first foreign visit after his resignation as president of Pakistan on August 18 this year is likely to be one of these countries for speaking purpose.

The source said that the former president’s stay would not be more than a few days. He said that Musharraf has no plan whatsoever to settle down abroad. “When he is conscious about having any longer stay in any foreign country, he will absolutely not leave Pakistan for good.”

Musharraf’s new home is spread over around 10,000 square feet covered area of the five-acre farm. It resembles with a Mediterranean house having Moroccan colours.

Hussain said that the Capital Development Authority by-laws were fully followed. Musharraf keeps visiting the under-construction house. The frequency of his visits increased after his exit from the Presidency. As president, Musharraf last went to the site on August 17 when he was faced with the toughest moments of his life and rule.

The farmhouse is bounded on its two sides by a similar estate, owned by Ghalib Nishtar, grandson of the Abdur Rab Nishtar, while there are roads on its other two sides. Its construction started in end-2006 and kept facing delays “because of the non-availability of the former president due to his official preoccupations.”

Hussain confirmed that Musharraf’s son Bilal continued to work in the United States while his daughter was in Karachi. The former president, his spouse Sehba and his mother Zareen, who are living in the Army House, will also be the occupants of the new residence.

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