ISLAMABAD: A sub-committee of Senate Standing Committee declared the site selected for the Overseas Pakistani Housing Scheme as ‘non-feasible and uneven’. It said that the project could be conducted at any other site at a cheaper rate.
Members of the sub-committee said this after a meeting on Saturday. They also visited the site of the housing scheme initiated by the Ministry
of Overseas Pakistanis in Zone-V Islamabad.
The committee was headed by its convener Senator Abdul Raziq Khan.
The sub-committee has been constituted to probe into the affairs of the housing scheme of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis, especially for Zone-V due to delay in the development work.
“We observed while visiting the site that it was a wrong decision of former authorities to give approval for this place back in 1994,” said Senator Abdul Ghafar Qureshi, while talking to The Express Tribune. The site for the purpose was purchased 16 years ago. “A better location could be selected at a cheaper rate,” he added.
Ghafar said that the records would uncover the people responsible for delay in the development of the scheme and action would be taken accordingly.
He said that more than 3000 kanals of land was identified and possession of half of this area had still not been taken. The senator added, “Around 300 kanals of land had not been transferred to the society so far.”
He said that the committee has sought all the relevant records from the Overseas Ministry about the Housing Scheme in the next meeting to be held after Muharram.
Ghafar added that no development work has been initiated on the project and the committee would also give directives in this regard after reviewing the detail records.
Committee Convenor vowed to make an ‘all-out effort’ to resolve the issues which have resulted in the slow pace of the development activity.
He expressed confidence that the FWO would work with sincerity to complete the housing scheme.
He also acknowledged the services of the overseas Pakistanis who were contributing to the socio-economic growth of the country through foreign exchange.
The concerned officials of the FWO informed that the project could be completed in three months if a green signal was given to initiate the development work.
The committee expressed the hope that matters would be resolved in amicable manner.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2010.
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