All elevators lying out of order

Islamabad

All the six elevators installed at the 16-storey Shaheed-i-Millat Secretariat housing important government offices have been out of order for quite sometimes to the misery of people working there or visiting them.

Among the organisations operating in the high-rise building located at China Chowk near Parliament House are Interior, Establishment and Housing Divisions, Pakistan Housing Authority, Estate Office and National Commission for Human Development.

Both employees and visitors criticised the concerned authorities for failing to ensure the regular repairs to the elevators despite repeated complaints both verbal and written.

"The Shaheed-i-Millat Secretariat has key government offices but none of its six elevators have been working. Only one of them was functional but that, too, broke down early this week. The authorities have closed its eyes to our sufferings, especially the elderly ones, as we've to use stairs to reach top storeys," an employee told 'The News'.

Another person working there protested the 'neglect and mismanagement' regarding the Shaheed-i-Millat Secretariat maintenance and said the lack of facilities in the high-rise building had stressed out both employees and visitors.

He said the building was in bad shape; elevators were out of order; rats were in abundance, and computer networks installed there broke down frequently.

"The fire tenders cannot enter the premises due to faulty structure," he said.

The employees and visitors demanded early repairs to the high-rise building to their relief.

'The News' contacted both Housing Ministry's spokesman, Joint Engineer Faqeer Mohammad, and publicity officer Muhammad Rizwan by repeated calls and texts to know their comments on the issue but none of them responded.