Pakistan

Bogus housing scheme: Foreign ministry officials left guessing

NLC tells ministry it won’t be able to immediately repay amount.

Qaiser Butt January 13, 2011

ISLAMABAD: The National Logistics Cell (NLC) has yet to reimburse the money it had collected from officers of the foreign ministry for a housing scheme in Islamabad that has failed to materialise, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The Foreign Office Housing Scheme was launched as a welfare project for the foreign ministry’s officers in 2006. The amount that the officers have paid is approximately 240 million rupees at the rate of 350,000 rupees per kanal.

The NLC is reportedly willing to repay the amount but in installments and at a time that it deems “appropriate”. The officers are afraid that the NLC will continue delaying this until victims of the dubious scheme are forced to meet self-serving terms of the NLC. A reliable source told The Express Tribune that negotiations had ended unsuccessfully. Meanwhile, an official said on condition of anonymity that the NLC has told the ministry that it will not be able to immediately make the payments in full.

When contacted, Ayaz Hussain, a director-general at the ministry who is responsible for securing the interest of his colleagues, said he was “disappointed”. He did not directly admit his failure to recover the amount and also said he was not sure when the NLC would return the amount or what the fate of the project was.

However, Hussain’s colleague said on condition of anonymity that Hussain had assured the NLC that he will not publicise the issue. Reportedly, NLC’s management had threatened Hussain that if the ministry attempted to pressurise them through the media, the issue would only be spoiled further.

Hussain is also under pressure from his colleagues who have been demanding an early settlement of the issue. He sent letters to the victims, both in Pakistan and abroad, seeking their opinion on the mode of recovery. They argued that the dollar-rupee conversion rate was Rs65 in 2006 but it is about Rs90 now and they were not willing to suffer the loss. Foreign ministry officials say that now the NLC is demanding a large sum of money to “redesign the scheme” so that it conforms to the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) by-laws.

The officers had invested their savings in the housing scheme at the behest of two of their colleagues. The two knew that the scheme was launched without permission from the CDA. One of these officers is currently posted as an ambassador while the other, posted at the NLC’s headquarters, is still trying to protect the commission’s interest.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (2)

Beatle | 13 years ago | Reply @ S. A. Mateen - True that it is not the first of its kind, but what it makes a bit different is that the cheaters this time is a subsidiary of the Armed Forces - the so-called sacred cow. Why does not the GHQ intervene and return the hard earned money of common people. Or may be our Suo-Motto juistice pop-in, but no - they will also turn a blind eye on GHQ's unfair affairs.

Syed A. Mateen | 13 years ago | Reply NLC housing scheme is not the first bogus housing scheme but there are number of housing schemes announced from time to time by private builders and have cheated the innocent and shelter-less people in the country. It is unfortunate that we do not have proper laws which should protect the interest of investors and end users. Chief Justice of Pakistan should take a so motto notice against NLC officials who were responsible of announcing housing scheme without prior approval of CDA and other government departments and ask NLC to refund the amount to the people without any further delay. The Supreme Court should also take action against the concerned NLC officials of bogus housing scheme and sent them to jail for cheating investors and end users and utilizing the money collected for other purposes.

Replying to X