Senate Body On Housing Discusses Wide Range Of Issues

A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Housing and Works was held on Monday to discuss a wide range of issues

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jun, 2023 ) :A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Housing and Works was held on Monday to discuss a wide range of issues.

The meeting, held at the Parliament House, was chaired by Senator Haji Hidayatullah and attended by Senators Falak Naz, Khalida Ateeb, Fida Muhammad, Saifullah Abro, Afnanullah Khan, Molana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and senior officials of the Ministry of Housing and Works along with its attached departments and agencies.

The forum discussed the status of affidavits received from PWD officers wherein they provided an undertaking that they owned no residence in Islamabad, briefing on the legal opinion obtained by the Ministry of Law and Justice regarding cancellation of existing lease agreements at any stage or otherwise prior to the completion of a lease period and matters related to commercial business properties in Karachi.

Similarly, the report on 8,200 Kanals of the land of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan (SCBAP) and property-wise details on account of payments made along with complete details of the hiring process of M/S Urban Unit Lahore as Surveyor also came under discussion.

While discussing the status of affidavits of officers from PWD, the Committee was informed that out of a total of 55 persons 49 had submitted the required document, whereas five of these have retired and one has voluntarily vacated the accommodation.

The matter has been 100 percent complied with.� Briefing on the legal opinion obtained by the Ministry of Law and Justice regarding the cancellation of existing lease agreements at any stage or otherwise prior to the completion of the lease period pertaining to commercial business properties in Karachi, the Committee was informed by the Ministry of Law and Justice that it could not give any specific advice on the matter since the issue was very vast.

It further briefed that the rental laws of the province would have to be revisited to provide any insight on the subject.� The Estate Office informed the Committee that a total of nine petrol pump sites and 216 Federal shops are available in Karachi.� The Committee was told that Shop Rental Auction Policy 2017 was in force wherein the procedure of Auction is elaborated and adopted accordingly.� The Auction Committee has already been constituted by the Ministry of Housing and Works.� Deliberating over details pertaining to 8,200 Kanals of the land of SCBAP and property-wise BUP details on account of payments, the Committee deferred the matter as the briefing agendas lacked important information.

The Committee directed the ministry to come prepared in the next meeting and brief it on both agendas in detail.