| Ministers, 14 MPs told to vacate House Lodges |
ISLAMABAD Fourteen Pakistani parliamentarians, including some ministers, have been issued notices of eviction from Parliament Lodges. The notices were sent out on the directives of Deputy Speaker National Assembly Faisal Karim Kundi on Saturday.
The deputy speaker said the notices had been served on Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Ka-ira, chairman Kashmir committee and Jamiat Ulemai Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Federal Minister for Capital Administration and Development Nazar Mohammad Gondal, Raza Hayat Hiraj and others. The ministers had been allocated residences in the ministers’ enclave but they also kept the Parliament Lodges suites under their occupation.
In the notices issued through the director Parliament Lodges, the parliamentarians have also been asked to remove illegal structures in the lobbies otherwise they would be cleared during the operation on Saturday.
The building has seven blocks each having five lobbies and each lobby consisting of several visiting rooms. When the building was constructed in 1996-97, these visiting rooms were used by the guests of the parliamentarians but with the passage of time they were occupied by the relatives, friends, servants and security guards of the MNAs and senators.
“We have observed that the lobbies have been encroached upon by the guards and servants of the 14 parliamentarians and these people have also become a security threat to hundreds of parliamentarians residing in the lodges,” the deputy speaker said.
He said some parliamentarians had genuine problem of accommodation for their security guards and servants but those who had official houses in other locations like the ministers’ enclave should keep their guards there.
The NA house and library committee headed by Kundi has observed a number of times in the past that illegal occupants in the lobbies and side-rooms of Parliament Lodges were a permanent security threat. Apart from this, they are also disturbing the privacy of families living in the building.
When contacted, Mohammad Tariq, the personal secretary to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, said they had not received any notice.
“Neither we have received any notice nor any of our men is residing in the lobbies of the lodges,” he said. The notice said, “It has been decided by the competent authority to get the lobbies of PL vacated immediately from illegal/ unauthorised occupants for ensuring the security of the building.”
“It is informed that the operation will be started on Saturday at 9am for which all necessary arrangements by the concerned formation shall be made,” the notice said.
Police and local administration have also been given guidelines to assist the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in conducting the operation.
“The Senate and National Assembly shall form a committee comprising parliamentarians and senior officers of the two houses for overseeing the operation,” the letter said.
Internews
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