ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee meeting saw a heated exchange between the minister for housing and Capital Development Authority (CDA) member planning, culminating in the CDA member being expelled from the session.

The argument between Housing Minister Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema and CDA Member Planning Dr Shahid Mahmood was regarding an unauthorised apartment building in I-12, and occurred during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Housing and Works.

The PHA Foundation, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Housing and Works, is building 3,200 flats in the CDA’s 1-12 sector without an approved layout plan from the CDA.

During the meeting, Mr Cheema argued that the CDA was creating unjustified obstacles for the PHA in executing the aforementioned project.

Dr Mahmood responded that the project was being executed without an approved building plan, adding that a single brick could not be laid in the capital for the purposes of construction without the authority’s approval.

CDA member planning expelled from housing and works standing committee meeting

To this, Mr Cheema remarked that many buildings in the capital were constructed without the CDA’s approval, naming the Centaurus shopping mall and Safa Gold Mall as examples. But Dr Mahmood said their building plans had been approved.

Mr Cheema said the CDA was creating obstacles in the way of the project’s completion, to which Dr Mahmood remarked that if the minister wanted to deliver a speech that was his prerogative.

The minister and committee members objected to Dr Mahmood’s remarks, and MNAs Iqbal Mohammad Ali Khan and Syed Agha Rafiullah said that he should be expelled from the meeting.

At their insistence, the committee chair, MNA Mohammad Najeeb Haroon, asked the CDA officer to leave and said the CDA chairman would brief the committee at its next meeting. Dr Mahmood apologised for his comments before he left.

According to a working paper submitted by the CDA in the meeting, the PHA began construction on the project in 2017 without taking possession or an approved building plan from the CDA.

After beginning the project, the PHA also diverted a nullah without approval. The CDA’s document said the authority sealed the project on Nov 16, 2018, but work continued regardless. The site was sealed again on Sept 26, 2019 and Oct 16, 2019, but the document said that building control staff who visited the site on Oct 21 found that construction was ongoing.

In November 2019, the minister had told the standing committee that there were no issues of structural stability in the multi-storey apartments.

The committee had been informed that the building was sealed by the CDA on Sept 26 and unsealed on Nov 4, but the CDA’s new working paper does not contain any details of the site being unsealed.

The project was highlighted in the media a couple of months ago with concerns being raised about the safety of those living in multi-storey buildings that were constructed without any approvals.

The minister had said there were no structural stability issues and claimed that a contractor who did not complete the work on time was circulating false reports about the project.

He had also said that there was no building in the nullah bed and the foundations of all the buildings were on the firm strata with varying depth ranging from 20 to 30 feet.

He had said that because this was a government project there was an understanding that government departments began projects and sought approval from the CDA later. He cited the examples of the Supreme Court building and the PHA buildings in G-10/2 and G-11/3, adding that a number of private buildings were also constructed without approval.

Standing committee approves FGEHA bill

The committee also approved a bill to convert the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) into an authority.

The parliamentarians were informed that the FGEHF has a mandate to arrange affordable accommodation for federal government employees and other specific groups on a no-profit-no-loss basis. Its jurisdiction extends to all of Pakistan.

The housing ministry said the foundation is not a regulatory body and has to go through lengthy processes of seeking permission and no objection certificates from various authorities to launch its projects. The maintenance of existing schemes is not possible until the foundation is given the status of an authority.

It asked the committee to approve the bill, which it did after making two minor amendments. The bill has already been approved by the Senate standing committee and will now be placed before parliament.

The FGEHF is a subsidiary of the housing and works ministry and is a company with limited powers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In July last year, the government turned the FGEHF into an authority through a presidential ordinance.

After the promulgation of the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority Ordinance 2019, it is now mandatory for a bill to this effect to be passed by parliament.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2020