Parliament Lodges tenders: Director refutes corruption allegations

Senators decry closure of all stores in the complex

The director of the Parliament Lodges in the capital has refuted allegations of corruption leveled against him, claiming instead that incorrect information had been presented to parliamentarians in this regard.

This was deliberated on during a meeting of a sub-committee of the Senate Committee on Parliament House. The sub-panel had convened at the conference hall of the Parliament Lodges on Tuesday with Senator Kulsoom Parveen in the chair.

During the meeting, the Parliament Lodges director told the committee that all corruption allegations against him were baseless and that a contractor had allegedly furnished false information to Senator Azam Khan Swati.

The contractor in question, the director said, had submitted a tender. The tender was open but his bid was not the lowest. Hence the tender was awarded to a different contractor.

Moreover, the Parliament Lodges director said that the tenders had been awarded as per the Pakistan Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and that no corruption had been committed.

At this, the committee was told that the contractor in question had previously submitted a fake call deposit.

Senator Samina Saeed pointed out that in the last meeting of the committee, Senator Swati and another senator had claimed that they will present evidence against the lodge director which proved that he was providing tenders to his favourite people. But the two senators had failed to attend the meeting.

Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman asked that if the contractor had submitted a fake call deposit, why was action not taken against them?

At this, senators part of the subcommittee demanded that all tenders submitted by the concerned contractors be presented in next meeting.

During the meeting, the committee’s convener noted that all stores located inside the Parliament Lodges complex had been closed. This, she pointed out, had created difficulties for residents who now have to venture outside the lodges to get even a bottle of water.

At this, the CDA chief told the committee was told that shops in the lodges had been leased during 2004-5 and that a committee had been formed to determine the rent of these shops. Senator Saeed disclosed that she had received a gas bill of Rs50,000 for her accommodation in the lodges.

At this, Senator Parveen said that she had two rooms in the lodges for which she gets a power bill of Rs40,000 per month.

The CDA chairman sought an inquiry report from the director of the lodges.

The subcommittee was told that Owais Sadiq was the caretaker of the Senate while Mehfooz Raza was the caretaker of the National Assembly.

Senator Parveen said it will be better if an inquiry is conducted against Raza and the report is submitted to the committee.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2018.