Short on space, MPAs anxiously wait for new Sindh Assembly building

The extended deadline for the completion of the building passed in June.

KARACHI: Fighting for the Sindh Assembly seats in the May 11 general elections was hard but the challenge of accommodating all 168 members in a seating capacity of 54 is perhaps even harder.

After the elections, the MPAs were supposed to attend sessions in the new Sindh Assembly building but its construction is still underway. The groundbreaking ceremony of the new building, which is right behind the old one, took place in 2009 in the presence of former president Asif Ali Zardari while the construction started in 2010.  The initial deadline to finish construction was October 2012, but it was extended to June 2013.

June came and went, but the MPAs still have to sit in the old building which has space for only one third of the members. “The seating capacity for the elected members is 54 but 168 have to be accommodated, barely leaving any space to move,” said Pakistan Muslim League-Functional’s Jam Madad Ali. “We would really appreciate if the government can finish the work as soon as possible.”



The dearth of space can also be found in the galleries for the press, governor, officers and visitors.

Reasons for delay

“There were multiple issues which delayed the project,” the assembly’s acting secretary, GM Umar Farooq, told The Express Tribune, listing the worsening law and order situation and frequent strikes by political parties as some. “We hope that the building will be ready by January 2014.”

Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s MPA Khalid Ahmed, however, alleged that bureaucracy delayed the assembly project for bribes. “During every briefing we are told that the construction will be completed soon. But when will that actually happen?”

The initial cost of the project was Rs1.8 billion and later it went up to Rs2 billion, but officials are of the view that the cost might escalate further. The consultancy for the building’s construction has been given to Naqvi and Siddiqui Associates who also built the National Assembly building. The assembly’s speaker has reconstituted the construction committee which comprises 12 members, including Pakistan Peoples Party’s MPA Dr Lal Chand Ukrani. “At least 90 per cent work of the four-storey building is complete and we expect it to be inaugurated by PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari in January next year,” he said.

Stepping up

“The new assembly will have a seating capacity for 350 MPAs, 100 seats for the speaker’s gallery, 20 seats for advisors gallery, 50 seats for officers, 1,000 seats for visitors and 200 seats for media personnel. A separate press room will have internet access and computers,” he told The Express Tribune, adding that the galleries for ministers and women will also be set up, the former with capacity of 60 and latter will accommodate up to 100. “The building only has 213 seats for visitors and 44 seats for media personnel.”

The new assembly will cover around 45,700 square-feet area and have a helipad on top of the building. It will also house an audio-video recording chamber, two committee rooms, cafeteria, auditorium, chambers for the chief minister, speaker, deputy speaker, leader of the opposition, library, mosque, 30 offices for the ministers and parking facility for more than 500 vehicles.

After the construction of the new building, the government intends to convert the E-shaped two-storey assembly, built in 1940, into a museum. The building significance lies in the fact that it was the first constitutional assembly of Pakistan, which had passed the resolution to create Pakistan and also hosted Muhammad Ali Jinnah and first prime minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan.

Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani said that the government will also establish new MPA hostels. “Tenders have already been awarded and construction will start shortly at the location of the existing hostel.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2013.