- Ministry confirms 300 houses occupied illegally
Influential officers have caused controversies because of their occupancy of official houses in the Federal Capital. The situation is getting worse for the Ministry of Housing, which is already battling allegations of corruption because of its subordinate departments.
The alleged out of turn allotment of the official residence to Chief Commissioner Islamabad, Zulfiqar Haider, is the newest controversy.
The house was allotted to the Chief Commissioner after the illegal cancellation of an allocation of the residency to another official and the Ministry of Housing is involved in it, media report stated.
However, officials deny that this is true while no documented proof has been produced so far.
When contacted Spokesman for Ministry of Housing Akhtar Wazir denied that the house was illegally allotted to the Chief Commissioner. He said, “The house was allotted under designated house rule,” adding that the same house was in occupancy of former Secretary Election Commission Ishtiaq. “His daughter is Assistant Commissioner in BPS 17, not entitled to the house her father was residing; it has to be allotted to BPS 20.” According to his version she was allotted a house under ‘F type’. In addition, the house was allotted to the appropriate official under rule.
Sources privy to the matter also alleged that a flat in Block No. 62 of Sector G-11/4 was also illegally occupied by an official of the DC office, whereas it is actually allotted to a female official from the education department.
Estate Officer Deputy Secretary Salim informed that the ministry is facing a problem because of 300 houses that have been illegally occupied. “We have no police force on our disposal; we have requested IGP Islamabad to support us in vacating the occupied places.”
Nevertheless, the sources said that illegal and out of turn allotment of houses based on personal relations and political influences is an open secret in Islamabad.
Massive embezzlement was discovered the ministry’s subordinate department PWD when the National Assembly Standing Committee expressed its displeasure over the fact that the Ministry of Housing and Works had delayed sending the cases against corruption to NAB.
In January the ministry told the committee that 32 cases of embezzlements against 48 officers from the Public Works Department (PWD) had been sent to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Last year, the NAB had filed a corruption reference against Shah Din Sheikh, DG/Chief Engineer North PAK PWD and seven others in the Accountability Court Islamabad.
