Parliament lodges: Senate subcommittee expresses displeasure

A subcommittee of the Senate House Committee on Friday expressed its displeasure over delay in completion of family suites for the parliamentarians at the Parliament Lodges.

The member engineering, Capital Development Authority (CDA), informed the committee convened by Mir Muhammad Yousaf Badini that PC-I of the projects with estimated cost of Rs 2.9 billion was approved by Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in 2010. The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) also gave approval of the project for construction of additional blocks in Parliament Lodges. Service of a Consultant Firm Anwar Ali & Associates was also hired.

The officials of CDA revealed to the committee that the consultant was not a registered firm with Pakistan Engineering Council.

In his ruling, the convener committee said the consultant was hired in violation of rules and malice was seen in hiring process of the consultant. The committee sought details of the hiring process of the consultant with a directive to fix the responsibility.

The committee was further informed that the completion year of the project was 2013 which started in 2011. An extension was granted as the project was not completed in time. Under the project, 3.96 acres of land was reserved for the construction of family suites and another 1.4 acres land was allocated for servant quarters.