ISLAMABAD: Officials of the housing ministry on Wednesday told a parliamentary panel that load bearing issue of I-12 apartments has been resolved as new soil testing reports had declared that the buildings could bear load ranging from 1.4 to 2.4 tons per square feet.

The officials told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Housing and Works, which met here with MNA Engineer Mohammad Najeeb Haroon in the chair that the reports prepared by Army’s Engineer-in-Chief Branch said there was no load bearing issue.

The PHA, a subsidiary of the housing ministry, is building 3,200 flats in the CDA’s I-12 sector.

The load bearing capacity issue, which was pointed out by an official of PHA and a contractor, has remained in the news during the last few months.

However, the committee was told by Housing Secretary Dr Imran Zeb Khan and other officers concerned that as per reports, the structure stability was no longer an issue.

As per new soil testing reports, the buildings can bear load ranging from 1.4 to 2.4 tons per square feet

To this the committee chairman told the CDA Member Planning Dr Shahid Mahmood to cooperate with the housing ministry to resolve their issues.

The housing ministry, in violation of CDA’s rules and regulations, has been executing the multi-storey buildings without the approval of the building plans by civic agency, which was a prerequisite for initiating a project.

The CDA member told the committee that the civic agency has no issue with the housing ministry and their case for approval of building plans would be dealt with on priority basis.

Meanwhile, Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) Director General Waseem Hayat Bajwa told the committee that in next one year, the authority would provide 10,000 plots to government employees in its various schemes mainly in Bhara Kahu housing schemes.

He said that work has been started in this scheme, which remained stalled for years, and next month formal inauguration of the project would be carried out.

He said the issues related to Bhara Kahu Scheme I and II had been resolved and now, the project is moving on right direction.

The committee chairman asked the FGEHA director general to set targets and achieve them within a year, as in the past the organisation had failed to deliver.

The FGEHA director general told the committee in next few months construction work on 11,000 flats will be started.

The committee chairman assured his support to the FGEHA. The committee chairman formed a subcommittee to oversee projects being initiated by the FGEHA.

Earlier, the committee urged the government to release funds to MNAs from Sindh for their development schemes irrespective of their party affiliations.

The committee was apprised by the Ministry of Housing and Works that funds worth Rs3.4 billion for 488 proposed development schemes of MNAs from Sindh had been sanctioned on the recommendation of the steering committee working under the convenership of Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak.

The funds for the projects approved under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Programme were yet to be released by the Finance Division.

The committee expressed concern over the issue and recommended for early release of funds in question by the Finance Division.

The committee decided to set up a subcommittee which will oversee these projects on ground and submit a report to the standing committee within a month.

Regarding the issue of Federal Lodges Islamabad, the committee was informed by the ministry that in pursuance of the directions of the Islamabad High Court, rules were framed and sent to the court.

The committee directed the ministry to provide a copy of the rules to it.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2020