ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani referred an issue of breach of privilege to the whole House, arising out of an allegedly wrong reply to the question about implementation of the recommendations of inquiry, which was held last year about malpractices in the Aero Medical Department (AMD) of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Speaking on this motion, Senator Farhatullah Babar waved a copy of the CAA’s letter on the subject, conveying approval of the director general (DG) to certain actions to be taken in the light of recommendations of the Board of Inquiry. He said that instead of taking action, incomplete replies were furnished to the House.
“It appears a case of cover-up, protecting some individuals and misleading the House,” he said and urged that the matter should be referred to the Privileges Committee (PC).
Senate chairman asked him for the copies of the documents after which he placed the matter before the House and sought opinion whether it should be dealt with by the PC or the House itself.
After ascertaining the sense of the House, the chairman referred the matter to the PC directing also that the House will take a decision after the committee had examined it.
Senator Babar also raised the issue of the Federal Government Employees Housing Scheme Phase X, located at Islamabad Park Road, for the allotment of plots to serving and retired government servants, media personnel, professionals and members of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
He said that it took five years to sort out the complex legal and administrative issues before the scheme had finally come to fruition. But, he added, the imposition of harsh payment schedule had defeated the very purpose for which it had been initiated.
He also informed that the applicants had been asked to deposit the first instalment of Rs1.5 million within three weeks and the remainder within the next few months.
“Anyone failing to deposit the initial deposit in the next few days will lose his entitlement,” he said, adding that most of the applicants were unable to make the down payment in such a short period.
“As a result, the property dealers have become over-active and started purchasing the allotment letters from the allottees to make windfall profits when the scheme gets going,” he said, and added, “The net result will be that the people, for which the scheme is intended, will have no plots to build their houses and the property dealers will make hay while the sun shines for them.”
He said that he hoped it was not a deliberate ploy to reap windfall profits by property dealers and asked that the schedule of payment be softened and made easy to enable employees to pay the instalments.
The Senate chairman asked the Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq to look into the matter and bring it to the attention of relevant ministry.