4G services: Senate body seeks report on absence of facility in some Abbottabad areas

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Functional Committee on Government Assurances has sought a comprehensive report from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on the non-facility of 4G services in some areas of district Abbottabad including UC Salhad.

The meeting of the Senate Functional Committee on Government Assurances was held at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Kamil Ali Agha.

The issue of non-provision of 4G services in UC Salhad and some other areas of Abbottabad District was discussed at the meeting of the Functional Committee.

The PTA officials told the committee that "our people had conducted the survey in UC Salhad, Abbottabad and there were problems only in some hilly areas." Chairman Committee Senator Kamal Ali Agha said that Senator Tahir Bizenjo had some reservations in this regard.

He said the people of those areas were facing the problems of telecommunication including 4G services. After discussing the issue, the committee sought a comprehensive report from the PTA on the services of 4G in some areas of district Abbottabad including UC Salhad after conducting a survey within 15 days.

Member PTA said they would visit and inspect those areas themselves. Deputy Chairman Senate Mirza Muhammad Afridi said the people there should have access to internet, on which the chairman of the committee, Senator Kamil Ali Agha, said that a survey should be conducted in 15 days and a report should be submitted to the committee.

The issue of repair of government houses and whitewash was also discussed at the meeting. Officials of the Ministry of Housing told the functional committee that they had received a budget of Rs70 million for 28,000 houses and 17,000 of them were in Islamabad.

They said the flats near Karachi Company were in a very bad condition. Necessary repair and maintenance would be done of all categories of houses. The Ministry of Housing officials informed the Committee that Rs1.8 billion of PC-I had been sent for repair work, which had been approved. Officials further said the condition of multi-storey flats was very bad. Committee member Senator Dr Sania Nishtar said there were political recruitments in the institutions. She said there was a need to bring transparency in the institutions.

She urged that transparency should be brought in the existing system instead of creating new institutions. The officials of the ministry told the Functional Committee that there was only Rs7 crore budget for government houses all over Pakistan.

They said steps were being taken to introduce e-tendering. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that government officials were not policy makers. He said he would talk to the Federal Minister for Housing and Construction Tariq Bashir Cheema in that regard. He said that a budget of Rs7 crore was a "joke".

He said the budget should be used in a transparent manner. The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs further said that "we will try to allocate additional budget for housing in the forthcoming budget."

Chairman Committee Senator Kamil Ali Agha said that setting up more institutions was not a solution to the problems. He said the committee would send its suggestions to the Minister for Housing. "We hope that the minister will accept our suggestions," he said.

The Establishment Division briefed the Functional Committee on the progress made by it in approving the Constitutional Amendment in the Parliament regarding quotas in jobs in 2016. The secretary Establishment Division informed the committee that the opinion of the attorney general had also been received in that matter and now the suggestions and report of the Committee were awaited.

In the meeting of the functional committee, a briefing was given by the officials of the Ministry of Housing on allotment of plots and constructions of houses in Sector G-14/3 of Islamabad. Officials of the Housing Ministry told the Committee that the process of allotting plots to the allottees continued.

They said about 44 houses had been constructed, while 1,100 plots out of which 700 plots were ready for allotment. They said there was a mafia occupying that area from which plots had been vacated, there were also clashes. The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs said that the issue should be put on the agenda of the next meeting.

The Committee also sought a report that how many plots had been vacated, how many plots were occupied, and what were the reasons for those who were not occupying the plots.

The meeting was attended by Senator Sania Nishtar, Senator Humayun Khan Mohmand, Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Senator Mirza Muhammad Afridi besides Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, senior officials of the Ministry of Housing, the PTA, the CDA, and the Establishment Division.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021