NLC failed project: Stung by housing scam, FO officials look to chief justice

NLC owes Rs240m collected under a ‘welfare project’ in 2006.

ISLAMABAD: Unable to recover multi-million-rupee investment in a shelved housing scheme of the National Logistic Cell (NLC), foreign ministry officials have appealed to the chief justice to take suo motu notice of the matter.

In 2006, the NLC had collected Rs240 million from foreign ministry officials for the sale of residential plots in the Foreign Office Housing Scheme at the rate of Rs350,000 per kanal.

According to the NLC, it was a welfare project for foreign ministry employees. However, the project could not take off for a lack of proper town planning by the NLC.

Foreign ministry officials have now appealed to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to help them recover their money from the NLC.

One of the aggrieved officers told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity that efforts to recover their money through the General Headquarters also failed.

“The foreign secretary was approached by the officers to take up the matter with the military high command,” he said. However, that, too, failed.

Another official said that they had decided to approach the Supreme Court against the NLC directly, but added, “Who will dare bell the cat”.

Around three months ago, top NLC officials had promised an alternative site for the construction of the Foreign Office Housing Town in Islamabad – but so far nothing has been done.

“We were promised that the proposed township will be set up at another suitable location in Islamabad. We agreed but the promise did not materialise,” the second official said.

While the Pakistan Army has decided to put on trial three of its retired generals accused of involvement in the NLC scam, foreign ministry officers have lost all hope of recovering their money.

Initially, they had demanded that the NLC return their invested amount with 15% interest; however, they are no longer pushing for any additional amount.

“We will be grateful to the NLC if it agrees to return our own hard earned money without any interest,” said the official.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2012.