Punjab Assembly Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti on direction of PA Speaker Ch Parvez Elahi visited the under-construction assembly’s building on Thursday.
C&W officials had promised to complete the building in April 2020 and holding budget session in June 2020 in the new house. The secretary was accompanied by Punjab Assembly Secretary Coordination Rai Mumtaz Hussain Babar, DG Parliamentary Affairs Inayatullah Lak and other senior officers of the assembly and also C&W Department officers.
During round of the new assembly building, he particularly examined the house of the assembly, speaker’s office, chief minister office, secretary assembly office and committee rooms and termed C&W Department officers performance sub-standard and unsatisfactory. In this regard he held telephonic conversation with C&W Secretary Asadullah Khan.
Speaking on the occasion, Muhammad Khan Bhatti said that the pace of construction work in the building was highly unsatisfactory. He said Superintending Engineer Ismat Sharif was directed number of times for taking action against slow moving and work steal companies but due to mutual connivance he is not taking any action. SE Ismat Sharif while committing nepotism awarded contract of construction new building to two inexperienced companied Shafiq Construction Company and Iftikhar and Company which is matter of grave concern, he added.
He said that inquiry should be conducted for awarding contract to the said companies and this should be examined whether these companies come up to the required technical standard or not.
He recommended immediate transfer of concerned SE, XEN and SDO and for disciplinary action others against responsible not completing the building timely.
Muhammad Khan Bhatti further said that further delay in the construction of the building would mean cost escalation which will amount to burden on the national exchequer which is not acceptable at all. He said that under construction mosque in the new building should also be completed at the earliest.
