Ombudsman takes notice of delay in development of G-14 housing scheme

ISLAMABAD: A retired officer and three-time press secretary to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has moved the Federal Ombudsman against what he says “corruption, inefficiency and delay in the work in G-14 sector of Islamabad”.
Ombudsman Salamn Farooqi has taken swift action and appointed Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmad Khokhar to hear the case, who has summoned on June 30 (Tuesday) director general Federal Government Housing Foundation, chief commissioner Islamabad, managing director National Construction Ltd. and asked them to answer the allegations and come out with a timeframe to complete the work, in hand for almost 11 years.
The petitioner on behalf of other allottees has submitted, “In 2004, as federal government employees nearing retirement, we were allotted residential plots in Sector G-14 housing scheme after being charged the full amount of the cost of the plot and its development”.
“These residential plots were allotted to the federal government employees with the view to protecting them from the worry of post-retirement shelter.
This consideration of the government has effectively been defeated by the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF), the National Construction Limited (NCL) that were entrusted with the development of the sector, and the Islamabad Capital Territory.
As a consequence, the hapless allottees, almost ten years after their retirements, are still living in rented accommodations on their paltry post-retirement pensions”. “The housing foundation not only did not develop this sector it also failed to protect the land from encroachments.
Taking advantage of the foundation’s negligence, the illegal occupants approached the court for regularising their possessions to enable them to qualify for compensation”.
“The Islamabad High Court constituted a commission headed by a district and sessions judge that conducted an in-depth enquiry and submitted its report

to the court. The High Court gave its judgment in 2013, declaring over 450 persons as eligible occupants. The court also directed the housing foundation to compensate the genuine occupants in accordance with the existing rates. The foundation was also directed to proceed with the development of the scheme and hand over developed plots to the allottees”.
“It is astonishing to note that 15 months after the Court’s judgment, the Land Acquisition Collector (LAC) of the ICT has failed to get the sector vacated either from the court-approved genuine affectees or from the illegal encroachers. This is so despite the fact that the LAC has at its disposal over Rs1 billion deposited with it by the housing foundation for payment as compensation to the affected persons”.
“The executive council of the housing foundation met in February this year and decided that the sector would be fully developed and possession handed over to the allottees within a year, i.e., by 2016. Nearly three months have passed since the decision and completion of the development is nowhere in sight”.
“Sir, we the allottees who retired about 8 to 10 years ago suffer extreme hardship due to sheer lethargy and inaction on the part of the housing foundation, the NCL, and the ICT. Currently the main hurdle in completing the development work in G-14 is NCL, which having no expertise in the field of construction, has sublet the work to a private contractor. This contractor has missed every target given to him and the NCL, for some inexplicable reason, has not cancelled the contract despite repeated violations”.
“The housing ministry has appointed a new DG to the NCL who is a retired DG of the Pak PWD and has also given the charge of PWD to the same retired official. The ministry found a circuitous way to give charge of PWD to this retired official as his direct appointment to the Pak PWD would have been violative of the Supreme Court’s instructions. The newly appointed DG NCL spends practically all of his time at the PWD and as a result the development work, already progressing at a snail’s pace, has come to a complete halt”.
“We therefore appeal to the Honourable Federal Ombudsman for his intervention in the matter and request him to direct all the relevant agencies to submit a schedule of the development work to the Ombudsman Secretariat for its completion by 2016.”
Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmad Khokhar has directed DG FGEHF, “to submit a comprehensive plan before June 30th, of the scheme with the consultation of all stakeholders including the consultant, NCL and the developers. He directed that “the plan should contain items-wise target and upon failure the line of action be also suggested therein against the responsibilities”.