Making FGEHF authority key to solving govt housing

Senators slam CDA for unwillingness to listen to people

ISLAMABAD: Plans to turn the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) into an autonomous authority inched closer on Thursday as a Senate panel deliberated over the various issues plaguing different housing schemes for government officials in the federal capital.

This was discussed during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Housing and Works in the Parliament House on Thursday with Senator Mir Kabeer Ahmed Shahi in the chair.

The meeting reviewed the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority Bill 2019, in detail.

Federal Minister for Housing Tariq Bashir Cheema explained that the FGEHF was being converted into a new authority under the bill to ensure that projects planned by the foundation are completed.

He added that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had powers for purchasing and selling land in Islamabad but the foundation only had powers to transfer and allot land. Hence, he explained, the bill was being introduced.

Cheema stated that the government has barred construction of new government homes in the federal capital since 1995, as a result, some 30,000 federal government employees were stuck on waiting lists for houses. This, he said, had caused a housing crisis for government employees and the only way to solve it was to empower the housing foundation.

He added that the foundation plans to build some 25,000 houses for government employees in the federal capital.

“The CDA receives all kinds of taxes but is not willing to listen,” he said, expressing a complete lack of faith in the civic body.

Senator Chaudhry Tanvir Khan asked about the progress of the housing schemes which were to be built in Bhara Kahu and the Thalian Housing Scheme and where had all the money allocated for those projects gone.

Cheema stated that he had hair raising tales to narrate about the two housing schemes. The housing minister continued that CDA is not delivering.

The FGEHF director general stated that CDA lacked the capacity to build the projects.

Reviewing clauses of the bill, senators said that they had reservations over some parts of it.

It was recommended that the authority should have a governing body along the lines of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA). The housing secretary said that the authority will have a human resource and budget committee.

Senator Lt. General (R) Salahuddin Tirmizi remarked that DHA an adjutant general serves as the vice chairman of the board. He added that the board of the FGEHF authority should be headed by the housing minister.

The committee’s chairman asked who shall have the power to cancel a plot in the housing schemes under the authority. Senator Tanvir suggested that the executive board of the authority should have the power to cancel a plot. However, the housing secretary pointed out that per the proposed law, the director general will have the power to cancel or transfer plots.

The housing minister explained that they had copied the rules of DHA in which the authorities and powers of other authorities and bodies were kept unchanged. He urged the committee to expedite the process of approving the bill so that they can start working.

The committee recommended that the housing minister chair the executive body of the new authority while a budget and audit committee should be formed.

It decided to hold a special meeting just to review the bill in three days.

Regarding the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme, the housing minister said that he will brief the committee in detail at its next meeting.

Regarding the allotment of plots in Sector G-14/1 of the federal capital, he said that built-up property was proving to be a problem.

He said that they will cumulatively pay Rs7 billion to residents in the sector while the factories there will be shifted to Sector G-15.

However, he said that CDA did not permit the sale of commercial land.

At this, Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi said that while responding to a question on the floor of the Senate, they were told that the sector could not be sold owing to security considerations.

He promised to raise this matter again in the upper house of Parliament.

Housing ministry officials said that whenever they go into the sector to take possession of the land there, locals gather in force and prevent them from doing so. They added that they have to pay around Rs7 billion for the sector. To raise this money, they need to sell the commercial centre of the sector but CDA was not granting them permission to do so.

Shahi said that the issue will be resolved in the presence of CDA officials at the next meeting of the committee and summoned relevant CDA officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2019.