Environment ministry suffered massive loss of valuables and damage to building after it was set on fire by Lal Masjid brigade during the course of operation to flush out miscreants from the mosque and seminary premises.
According to the ministry sources, important floors were set on fire by the activists apparently causing great damage to important record, international agreements and protocols, furniture, vehicles, electronic appliances and other belongings.
"First and third floors are completely destroyed," an official told APP on Wednesday, pointing out the constitution of a committee to assess the damages and prepare a report. This committee is headed by a joint secretary level official with two deputy secretaries and one section officer from within the ministry and tentatively one official from the finance ministry to assess the damages.
"We are yet to ascertain the actual damages as we could not visit it due to security reasons," the official said and referred to just one casual visit to the premises escorted by security personnel as the area was still cordoned off.
"But, we saw great damage to record and other appliances," he added, hoping proper compensation from the government to raise the structure afresh or proper repair of the existing one. The building of environment ministry, adjacent to Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa seminary, proved to be a soft target to activists when the confrontation started two weeks back. They raided the ministry and set it on fire when the employees were busy in work inside endangering their lives and burning important record and belongings.
The floors suffered severely had offices of Minister for Environment, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Hayat, Secretary ministry of environment and other senior officials as well as other vital components and subsidiaries of the ministry. The ministry was shifted to ENERCON building, one of its offshoots, to continue functioning.
Another source told this agency that government has decided to hand over three floors of Local government ministry building in front of the ILO building, once its renovation is completed. "It yet may take months till the new space is handed over to the ministry," another official said.
When asked about recompilation of the record, the official referred to Shaheed-e-Millat secretariat inferno when whole of the record was engulfed by fire.
"At that time it had taken two to three years to maintain the record," he said, and foresaw again a two to three years marathon exercise would be required to maintain the records afresh. Although the government would be ensuring a new building or assistance to the ministry to repair the present one, but the fire incident has badly affected the working of this important ministry as well as its valuables.
Now the committee is waiting for normalcy to start its work of assessment and suggest measures to make it fully functional. On ground assessment and survey would be conducted to come out with actual estimation of damages and expenditures to be incurred for its rebuilding or repair and renovation.
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