ISLAMABAD, May 14: A Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) member of the National Assembly on Monday alleged that Minister for Housing and Works Faisal Saleh Hayat of the PML-Q had committed a corruption of Rs6 billion after being inducted into the cabinet.

During a meeting of the National Assembly standing committee on housing and works and later talking to mediapersons at the Parliament House, Jamshaid Dasti, MNA, claimed that he had informed Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani about the minister’s alleged corruption but the latter told him that Mr Hayat was not in his control.

Mr Dasti appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the alleged corruption, adding he would provide proof against the minister.

Presided over by Pervaiz Khan Advocate, the meeting was attended by Nazir Ahmed Bughio, Khalida Mansoor, Mian Marghoob Ahmed, Dr Nelson Azeem, Nosheen Saeed, Iqbal Mohammad Ali Khan and others.

Mr Dasti alleged that Mr Hayat had been demanding commission from every project and had appointed 42 assistant directors in his ministry by getting bribe. His frontman Hafiz Ramzan was arrested red-handed while receiving the brine money after which he admitted that he had to give the amount to the minister, he alleged.

He added: “In the Public Works Department (PWD), Mr Hayat has been demanding Rs7 million for the post of a sub-engineer and over Rs60 million for the post of chief engineer.” As a result, he said, director general PWD Gulab Zameer has got the additional charges of chief engineer Punjab, Balochistan and Islamabad.

Mian Marghoob said he had come to know that the contractor of the Kuri project was stopped from starting the construction work after he did not pay bribe to the high-ups of the ministry. Secretary Housing Kamran Lashari, however, informed the meeting that there were some allegations against the contractor so it was decided to wait till completion of an inquiry against him.

Nelson Azeem said some contractors had got contracts by offering low bid and then started demanding escalation in the contract money citing price hike, adding high-ups of the ministry were also involved in it.

Mr Dasti said sub-engineers cannot be appointed on daily-wage basis but in the PWD they had been inducted.

He alleged that the new inductees had been assured that their services would be regularised. He said the list of the daily-wage employees along with their domiciles would be provided to the committee in the next meeting.

Mr Dasti said the housing minister had made a routine of not attending the standing committee meetings. He even does not attend the National Assembly sessions, he added.

However, Kamran Lashari rejected the allegations of corruption against the minister.