ISLAMABAD: The Senate House Committee on Wednesday expressed concern over the quality of works of new Parliament Lodges project and delays in its construction, and decided to conduct independent forensic audit of both the existing Parliament Lodges and the construction of the new 104 lodges.
The Senate House Committee meeting was presided by its chairman Senator Syedaal Khan, who is also deputy chairman Senate, at the Parliament House to review key matters relating to Parliament Lodges.
Syedaal Khan proposed that an independent forensic audit of both the existing Parliament Lodges and the construction of the new 104 lodges be conducted by a professional consultancy firm headed by Syed Shabbar Zaidi. Senator Kamil Ali Agha strongly supported the proposal, describing the firm as highly professional. The committee unanimously recommended engaging the firm for carrying out the forensic audit to ensure transparency, accountability, and quality assurance in the execution of the works.
On the issue of the forensic audit, Capital Development Authority (CDA) officials informed the committee that the Auditor General of Pakistan had initiated an external forensic audit of the repair and maintenance works, and the report was awaited. The committee expressed serious concern over the absence of senior representatives from the concerned ministries and CDA, observing that such non-participation reflects a lack of seriousness towards parliamentary oversight.
The inspection committee presented its findings on the construction of the 104 new lodges. Senator Kamil Ali Agha informed the committee that, despite claims of substantial progress, only around 20 per cent of the project was found to be functionally complete during the visit. The committee was told about several deficiencies, including changes from the originally approved central air-conditioning system to individual air-conditioning units, inadequate ventilation arrangements, design flaws affecting the installation of ceiling fans, impractical placement of storage space at the entrance of the lodges, and concerns over the overall quality and standard of construction.
Responding to the observations, CDA’s Member Engineering informed the committee that the grey structure had been completed, while finishing works were in progress. He stated that imported lifts were yet to be installed and furniture had already been ordered. He informed the committee that architects had been engaged to prepare a model lodge for the renovation of the existing Parliament Lodges, where electrical and allied systems will also be upgraded.
During the meeting, Senator Jan Muhammad highlighted that only a token allocation had been made for repair of his allotted lodge despite repeated requests over the past three years. Director CDA informed the committee that funds for the first quarter had been released and tendering would commence shortly, with work expected to begin in the first week of September.
Chief Planning Officer of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives informed the committee that the total cost of the 104 new Parliament Lodges project stood at Rs7.1 billion, of which Rs3.5 billion had already been utilised, while Rs1.1 billion had been allocated during the current financial year.
