Parliament lodges: CDA asked to raise funds for maintenance

The Senate House Committee has asked the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to increase the annual allocation for maintenance of parliament lodges to Rs 108 million, up from the present allocation of Rs 1.2 million.
The increase in allocation, to be used for replacing soiled carpets and furniture as well as to fix leakage in suites of resident Senators in the lodge, would be more than nine times over the annual allocation.
The issue came up in the meeting of the Senate House Committee held in the Parliament House on Friday after a number of Senators, resident of the lodge complained about improper upkeep of suites.
Following the meeting, Deputy Chairman Jam Muhammad Jamali, who was in the chair, decided to inspect the upkeep and maintenance of the building the next morning.
In addition, the meeting also recommended refurbishing of the existing 130 chairs in the Senate banquet hall to make the place tidy and graceful, and for necessary repairs in wash rooms, kitchen and pantry. The meeting also desired the task done on priority basis.
However, in view of economy measures, announced by the new government, the meeting decided that, instead of purchasing new chairs for the dining hall, the existing broken chairs should be repaired.
Earlier, senior CDA officials briefed the meeting that the minimum requirement for maintenance should be Rs 108 million. They desired that this amount be released for carrying out renovation inside the Parliament lodges.
The chair promised to take up the matter with the Finance Minister in the next meeting of the Senate Finance Committee, to be held on April 8. However, in view of paucity of funds, he requested that the repair work should be done gradually with priority given to the most urgent one.
A mail room should also be set up at the lodges to ensure prompt delivery of letters and documents to the members. Another issue in the meeting was about the unauthorised persons living there pose a security threat to the residents. The meeting was assured that the grievance would be addressed.
The next meeting of the committee will be he held on Saturday next. Anisazeb Tahirkhaili, Gulshan Saeed, Kulsoom Parveen, Naeem Hussain Chattha, Maulana Rahat Hussain and Senate Secretary Raja Amin attended the meeting.