Overrun by rodents: Infestation irks Parliament Lodges’ residents

Senate panel told inflated power bills include unpaid arrears of past occupants

ISLAMABAD: Residents of the Parliament Lodges have been irked by the fact that they have had to share their temporary abodes with some noisy, filthy and unsightly vermin.

Vexed by the infestation, a demand was made on Thursday to kill the rats at the facility.

The matter was taken up in a meeting of the House Committee of the Senate, chaired by Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwala, at the Parliament Lodges on Thursday.

During the meeting, lawmakers stated that despite attempts to control and eventually eliminate the infestation, not much headway has been made by the facility’s caretakers.

Mandviwala said that the fourth floor of the lodges heavily infested, with the problem so grand that lawmakers have refused to live on the floor.

“Rats hide inside the false ceilings,” the deputy chairman said, suggesting that the ceiling should be removed to afford no space for the vermin to hide.

The rat infestation issue first came to the fore in March during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Food Security and Research when MNA Dr Fauzia Hameed pointed out that there were rats in her room.

The Ministry for Food Security and Research had assured of devising a plan to get rid of the rats in the next fiscal year.

Pakistan Agriculture Research Council Chairman Dr Yousuf Zafar had disclosed that there were over 50,000 rats in the parliament building, adding that a survey had revealed that the rats mostly frequent the lodges and cafeteria.

Maintenance grant

The committee on Thursday discussed issues pertaining to the maintenance grant for the Parliament House and the Lodges.

It was revealed that Rs194 million have been allocated for the repair and maintenance of the Parliament Lodges and hostels. The money is supposed to be released by the federal government on a quarterly basis.

However, the money was either withheld or released after delays which had caused impediments in the maintenance process.

The Senate panel recommended that the matter should be taken up with the Finance Division.

Regarding the sudden hikes in power bills of Parliament Lodges, a representative of the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) told lawmakers that they had examined the bills and found that they reflected past unpaid dues.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) director added that the inflated amount pertained to those bills which had not been paid by previous occupants of the lodges.

The committee recommended that the meters installed at the lodges must be checked for faults.

While enquiring about the progress on the Project Concept-II (PC-II) and the appointment of consultants for the refurbishing the existing lodges, it was disclosed that a PC-II worth Rs117.15 million had been submitted to the Interior Ministry.  This only included the cost of hiring a consultant and did not include the complete cost of the project.

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