Speaker of the National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq is considered to be a lucky man as he is going to reside in the new luxurious official residence, built at a cost of Rs 112.090 million. According to officials in Works Directorate of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), the building is ready for use and can be handed over immediately to the quarters concerned.
The CDA informed the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the Speaker's office about the completion of work, but neither the Ministry nor the Speaker's office showed any interest in taking possession of the house, the official said. The delay in the construction of the building was because of an escalation in the project cost, which rose from Rs 77.420 million to Rs 112.090 million, the official maintained. He said that the non-provision of funds in financial year 2011-12 was another reason for the delay.
The project could have been completed on time and within the original budget outlay, but the project cost escalated because of changes proposed by former speaker Fehmida Mirza, he added. The construction work started on September 5, 2007 and it was scheduled to be completed by March 4, 2009, he said. He said that the building is built over 3,000 square yards, adding that the covered area is 16,750 square feet.
He said that the building contained a basement, a lower ground floor, ground floor and first floor. He said that the building also housed two offices, a committee room, a VIP lounge and a waiting lounge. The ground floor, he said, was the residential area which had five bed rooms, two lobbies, lounge, kitchen, dining room and terrace. One bed room, a study room, and two lobbies were built on the first floor of the Speaker's House, he said, adding that it also contained two car porches and two guard rooms. The project had been initiated by former Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain in 2006 and it was estimated to cost Rs 77.420 million. The PC-1 of the project was approved by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) in 2006.