PHOTO: EXPRESS
This was raised as the condition of the Parliament Lodges was discussed during a meeting of the Senate Committee of the House chaired by Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwala.
During the meeting, Mandviwala expressed his discontent over the process adopted by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to tender shops in the lodges. The particular bone of contention was over the tenders for setting up a coffee shop in the lodges.
The committee was told that six companies had participated in the tendering process for the coffee shop. In response to a question posed by Mandviwala, it was disclosed that only one bidder, Mocca Coffee, had the relevant experience of running a proper coffee shop or café.
Apart from the popular café, the CDA Services director general said that he did not recognize the other bidders as true coffee shops. The committee’s chairman stated that how would they ascertain either the bidders were coffee shop operators or not.
At this, the CDA official admitted that he did not know where the public establishments of the other bidders were located.
At this Mandviwala stated that CDA officials should have first vetted the bidders before including them in the tendering process. The committee asked for a report on the matter.
For the laundry shop tendering, the Services Deputy Director Kamran Bakht maintained that there were only two bidders so their tenders were opened on the same day to have a healthy competition among them. Moreover, there was only a single bidder for the salon.
Mandviwala expressed his dissatisfaction over the tendering process and directed re-tendering for the laundry shop and salon.
The Senate deputy chairman directed CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed to investigate how fake bidders were allowed to participate in the tendering process. Ahmed said that he will look into the matter, but maintained that a CDA department and its director were solely responsible for the process and that they should have scrutinized the process.
"This is the first time, the contract for a coffee shop has been awarded to the right coffee outlet because earlier, irrelevant parties used to get tenders," Ahmed noted.
With regards to bids for the beauty parlour, the committee chairman directed Senator Kalsoom Parveen and Senator Samina Saeed to hold interactive meetings with the bidders and evaluate whether they will be proficient enough in their profession or not.
Mandviwala noted that in the last meeting of the committee, he had asked for the dimensions and plans of the new block being built in the Parliament Lodges. However, he lamented that they were not presented.
At this, the committee was told that of the Rs60 million outstanding dues of the contractor, Rs13 million had been paid. Moreover, two flats in lodges, which were under illegal occupation, had been recovered and handed over to allottees. Notices have been issued to occupants of a third flat and its possession is expected to be recovered next week.
Senator Parveen pointed to the eight-year delay in completing the new Parliament Lodges building.
Mandviwala chastised the CDA Member Engineering for his poor management of the project. He further pointed out that the committee had called for setting up a joint contractor and CDA committee to measure dimensions of the site and to resolve all outstanding issues but the committee had yet to sit down.
He asked the CDA chairman to get involved. The latter assured the committee that the committee will be set up by the next meeting of the committee.
Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) general manager told the committee that the CDA was the custodian of newly installed connections. The gas utility official complained that new allottees had refused to pay outstanding bills of previous residents. To this, the committee chairman noted that bill recovery was the department’s job.
The committee was astonished to learn that there was no proper firefighting system in place at the lodges. Mandviwala noted that the water hoses installed were for exhibition rather than any intended practical use.
"We only have fire extinguishers available as the fire hydrants have been inoperative for years," Mandviwalla said.
CDA Services director general explained that the fire hoses had been installed eight years ago. He added that they had prepared a summary of Rs94.7 million to revamp the firefighting system in all blocks of Parliament Lodges, including Rs23.3 million for a wet system.
Special Branch deputy inspector general told the committee that they have thus far verified 18 workers at the lodges from Islamabad while verification of the remaining workers, who hail from other districts, will be completed soon.
The committee directed to expedite the process.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 16th, 2019.
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