March 15, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 6, 1429

ISLAMABAD, March 14: The administrations of the Parliament House and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) are facing embarrassment for their failure to provide accommodations to all newly-elected Members of National Assembly (MNAs) in the Parliament Lodges because of various reasons.

The Parliament Lodges, which were constructed in two phases in 1997 and 2002, have a total of 358 modern and well-furnished suites of which 80 are occupied by senators.

Most of the Parliament Lodges suites were captured by the military officials following October 1999 coup, especially by those from NAB, and were got vacated with great difficulty by the CDA officials following 2002 elections.

A major reason for the accommodation crisis was the retention of many suites by the former ruling coalition MNAs, who were allowed by former prime minister Shaukat Aziz through an executive order to keep them till next elections, in the hope that they would be reelected.

As a result, at least 80 newly-elected lawmakers from various parties are running from pillar to post in search of an official accommodation.

Some of those who were issued allotment letters found the Lodges either occupied by some mighty bureaucrats or locked by former MNAs, according to security officials.

A number of quarrels have also taken place since February 18 polls between the occupants of these flats and the new allottees, and the sorry episode of getting a flat vacated by MNA-elect from Chakwal Faiz Tamman at gunpoint made newspaper stories last week.

The CDA officials were unable to refurbish and renovate the Lodges because of their pre-occupation by the influential people, including former lawmakers, as result of which they still lack in white wash and renovation.

Meanwhile, the CDA officials were also engaged in trying to make telephonic contact with the occupants of these suites for getting them vacated for the newly-elected MNAs.

They have pleaded to the ones who have not been given possession of their residential accommodations to wait at least for another two weeks.