ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel on Tuesday formed a subcommittee to look into the issue wherein some housing societies had failed to hand over plots to citizens who had cleared their payments.

The Senate Standing Committee on Interior met here with Senator Mohsin Aziz in the chair and discussed various agenda items including the failure of some housing societies’ administrations to provide plots to people despite receiving the payments.

Issues related to Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Employees Cooperative Housing Society, Jammu and Kashmir Housing Society, Pakistan Medical Cooperative Housing Society, Ghauri Town Housing Society and Ghauri Green Housing Committee were discussed.

The members said action should be initiated against operators of these housing schemes.

Senator Mohsin Aziz, therefore, formed a subcommittee and said the body could involve the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the probe against the said housing schemes.

Meanwhile, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) submitted a report to the committee about the violations committed by housing schemes in E-11. It was told that the civic body had directed the operators of the National Police Foundation (NBF) in E-11 to take appropriate action to ensure that loss and damage to life and property was avoided.

Read more: Body set up to regularise housing schemes

The committee was further informed that an inquiry in this regard was being carried out by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and action would be taken once the investigations are completed, the CDA’s working paper said.

Earlier, the committee chairman had directed the CDA to come up with proposals to solve problems of residents living in illegal housing schemes. In response to the directive, the CDA officials told the committee that the interior ministry had already formed a committee to look into the regularisation issue of irregular housing schemes.

It is relevant to note here that following the federal cabinet’s decision dated 17-08-2021, a committee was established “to advise and develop an effective policy for regularisation of irregular housing schemes in various zones of Islamabad, i.e., Zone-II, IV & V”.

Architect Murad Jamil and the CDA director general (planning) are part of the committee which will recommend regularisation of unauthorised housing schemes.

There are over 100 unauthorised housing schemes in Islamabad that have taken up land reserved for amenities such as schools, graveyards, parks and green areas.

Earlier, the committee deferred The Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties (Amendment) Bill, 2021, moved by Senator Mushtaq Ahmad, till further discussion and a comparative clause-by-clause review of the prevailing laws of other provinces.

The meeting was attended by senators Saifullah Abro, Rana Maqbool Ahmed, Samina Mumtaz, Azam Nazir Tarar, Fawzia Arshad, Talha Mahmood, Shahadat Awan, Faisal Saleem and Mushtaq Ahmed, besides officers of various government organisations.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2021