ISLAMABAD, June 1: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has started a probe into the alleged irregularities committed in the construction of Prime Minister House, Parliament Lodges and Convention Centre, a source in the NAB told Dawn.

The source said the construction cost of these three buildings was over Rs4 billion. These buildings were constructed by Capital Development Authority (CDA).

The source said the NAB believed that there was no need to construct such luxurious buildings in the capital, as before the construction of these buildings, the purposes of their construction were already being served.

The source said substandard material was used in the construction of these buildings. The Auditor General’s Report 1998-99 has already pointed out severe mismanagement, inordinate delay, misuse and wastage of funds, kickbacks and commissions in the construction of these three buildings, the source said.

According to the report, there were serious objections in the construction of Faizabad interchange, Jail Park (Rawalpindi), Prime Minister House, construction of National Police Foundation building, Kashmir Highway, Parliament Lodges and Convention Centre.

He said before publishing the report, the auditor general had asked the CDA officials to give reply to the objections raised against the engineering wing. But no responsible officer paid any heed to these objections and did not contact with the audit department thus finally these objections were published in the report, he added.

The source said the fort-shaped Prime Minister House was constructed at a cost Rs2 billion, Convention Centre at a cost of Rs1.2 billion and Parliament Lodges at a cost of over Rs1 billion. He said the construction cost of one room of the lodges was stated to be Rs5.7 million.

A source from the CDA said recently a sum of Rs150 million was allocated for the extension of the parliament lodges. The work on extension of the lodges was initiated to accommodate the parliamentarians elected in the last general elections. In this connection, over 100 additional lodges were constructed increasing their total number to 320.

The source said luxurious parliament lodges were constructed to provide a suitable accommodation to the heads of the states who had to arrive in Pakistan on the occasion of OIC Summit held in the country during the tenure of PML-N government. However, very few heads of the states attended the summit and delegations of different countries were provided these lodges.

After the conclusion of the summit, these parliament lodges were occupied by the parliamentarians, army officials and bureaucrats.

Similarly, the most prestigious building of convention centre has become a white elephant for the CDA, as the centre has become useless to some extent and its daily expenses have gone up by Rs100,000, the source said.