October 3, 2002	Thursday	Rajab 25, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: Renovation work on all 216 parliament lodges completed on Wednesday, the CDA’s director of lodges told Dawn.

“A high level committee, comprising secretary parliament, secretary finance, CDA chairman and other officials will inspect the renovation work on Thursday at 3pm,” he said.

He said Rs5 million had been utilised for the renovation, which include white wash, repair of fixtures, furniture and electronic items and replacement of carpets and curtains.

“The lodges will be allotted to those, who will be elected as members of national assembly and senate,” he added.

Earlier, the lodges were occupied by the army officials, senior bureaucrats and influential people.

When contacted, a CDA official ruled out the possibility of increase in the rent of lodges.

The rent of each lodge is stated to be Rs4,000 while such kind of accommodation in Islamabad is available at a cost of Rs35,000.

The official said Rs150 million was allocated for the extension of lodges.

He said the extension work had been initiated to accommodate parliamentarians to be elected in the general elections.

He said some 100 more lodges were being constructed, which would be completed before the start of national assembly session.