14 August 2022
PHAF Quetta Kuchlak Road Housing Project Updates
Federal Minister for Housing and Works Maulana Abdul Wassey and Secretary of Ministry of Housing and Works Iftikhar Ali Sallwani, visited Quetta Kuchlak Road Project of Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation (PHAF). They were apprised about the construction of apartments at the site. Maulana Abdul Wassey, showed his keen interest in the project and directed PHA to complete the project as soon as possible.
Balloted in 2021, there are total 1350 housing units, to be constructed by PHAF. The PHAF Quetta Kuchlak Road project is comprised of 714 grey structure houses under four different categories and 636 apartments comprising of 2 and 3 bed apartments.
Maulana Abdul Wassey expressed satisfaction over the pace of the work and said that this project will benefit government employees of Baluchistan and will provide shelter to the employees who don’t possess their own residence. He also said that more beneficial housing projects will be started in Baluchistan to facilitate government employees and general public. While Secretary Housing assured all the allottees that their interest will be look after by the ministry and no delaying tactics will be tolerated and project will be delivered on stipulated time.
DHA & CBC Grilled for Urban Flooding
The Sindh High Court has down hard on the performances of Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) and Defense Housing Authority (DHA) over the situation that surfaced in the areas under their jurisdiction after the recent urban flooding. A two-judge bench headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi remarked that these areas had become a nightmare for their residents, and asked the counsel for the DHA if any data was gathered about the losses caused by rainwater.
In two petitions filed after flooding during and after the torrential rains way back August 2020 in DHA and Clifton, the petitioners had sought formation of a committee to supervise sanitation projects and forensic audit of the CBC and DHA accounts. Justice Rizvi asked the counsel for the respondents that they were collecting taxes from the areas in question, but why the situation was not improving. Around 60 residents had filed a petition before the SHC and sought formation of a committee to supervise sanitation projects and conducting a forensic audit of the CBC and DHA accounts after the auditor general`s report found irregularities
Billion Tree Tsunami Investigations
Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Mrs. Sherry Rehman informed the National Assembly this week that 14 inquiries into the Billion Tree Tsunami project were pending with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which has not shared details of these inquiries and their status are unclear. She was replying to question raised by a MNA Barjees Tahir, who alleged that the Billion Tree Tsunami was a scandal and needed to be investigated.
The Billion Tree Tsunami project was a tree plantation drive launched in 2014 by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in response to the challenge of global warming and to restore 350,000 hectares of forest and degraded land. However, investigations and audit of the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami project, which was partially funded by provinces, is underway at the federal level.
Malir Expressway’ concerns sought
The Sindh Environmental Tribunal, headed by retired Justice Nisar Ahmed Shaikh, has asked the counsel of the residents and environmentalists to make rebuttal to the reply filed by a private firm constructing the controversial Malir Expressway project. The tribunal asked advocates to file the rebuttal on the next date while adjourning the hearing on appeals challenging the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) approval of the project.
On a previous hearing, M/s Malir Expressway Limited advocate had filed a copy of the fresh EIA report dated June 10 and signed by DG of the SEPA Muhammad Naeem Mughal, removing the appellants` objection that the earlier EIA report was signed by a deputy director who got no legal authority to issue such an approval under the law. Regarding the merits of the appeals, the counsel had argued that the appellants never raised any environmental concerns with regard to the environment of the metropolis. Therefore, the Tribunal head has asked the appellants to file rejoinder in plea against Malir Expressway.
