CDA officers not entitled to govt houses: NA panel told

The IHC was also informed about the houses on the Estate Office’s pool which were allotted to civil servants

ISLAMABAD:

The Estate Office on Thursday told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Housing and Works that the employees of Capital Development Authority (CDA) were not eligible to get residential accommodations from the pool of Estate Office as the civic agency was maintaining its own pool of accommodation for its employees.

Briefing the 24th committee of the lower house of parliament chaired by MNA Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhary, the Estate Office director-general shared with the lawmakers the general waiting list and the category-wise details of allotments of all houses of Sectors G-9 and G-10 Islamabad.

Earlier, the Ministry of Housing and Works told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that 1,100 officers of the CDA were illegally living in houses meant for various ministries and divisions under the supervision of the Estate Office in the federal capital.

The court was also informed about the houses on the Estate Office’s pool which were allotted to civil servants working under the federal government as per the general waiting list.

The Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) director-general briefed the committee on the current status of the different projects and explained the steps taken to resolve issues relating to ongoing projects for the timely provision of plots, flats and apartments to the allottees.

The Pakistan Public Works (Pak-PWD) director-general briefed the committee on the current status of utilisation of SAP funds for the year 2022-2023. The MD Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA) Foundation and MD National Construction Limited (NCL) Islamabad briefed the working\functioning of PHAF and NCL in detail. The officials also informed the committee of the progress of ongoing projects in Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The committee appreciated the work done by the National Construction Limited (NCL) Islamabad and unanimously recommended maintaining the independent status of NCL, being a national asset.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2023.