The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Housing and Works met in Islamabad on Tuesday with MNA Khalida Mansoor in the chair to discuss actionable points in respect of the National Housing Authority (NHA) Performance Audit Report (2003-04) as referred by the Sub-Committee of Public Accounts Committee and other matters.
The committee expressed its dissatisfaction over the performance of the NHA and recommended for either disbanding it or merging with other departments with similar scope of activities.
The committee was of the view that the NHA had failed to achieve the purpose of its establishment. It was apprised that the performance audit of the NHA was conducted in 2003-04 wherein several points were raised about its performance.
The sub-committee of PAC decided to refer the issue to the Standing Committee on Housing and Works after listening to the unsatisfactory justification presented by the M/o Housing and Works.
The director general (NHA) pleaded that the NHA prepared two low-cost housing schemes with Zakat funds and PM’s Special Development Programme in the year 1987 and the housing units were handed over to the mushteqeen (deserving people) and destitute after their completion.
He said that the Authority could not further initiate housing schemes for low income groups due to non-availability of funds, however, it had been providing assistance to the provincial governments in their housing initiatives.
The committee decided to recommend to the PAC for settlement of the audit observations. The committee further recommended the government continued pursuing housing schemes for providing shelter to the low income groups as guaranteed under the constitution and that too in areas having civic amenities.
The committee expressed its satisfaction on the process of balloting of the Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation (PHAF) residential flats in Sector I-12, Islamabad. It directed the PHAF to ensure quality of construction material and timely competition of the residential units for their handling over to the allottees.
Earlier, the committee unanimously passed a resolution, condemning a robbery at the residence of Standing Committee on Housing and Works Chairman Haji Akram Ansari in Faisalabad and called upon the federal and Punjab governments to take action against the culprits.