ISLAMABAD: Members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on House and Library on Wednesday criticised delays in the construction of additional family suites and servant quarters in Parliament Lodges within the stipulated time and were displeased with the pending inquiries related to the lodges.

The committee met at Parliament House with Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi in the chair and decided to convene a joint meeting of the National Assembly and Senate standing committees on house and library on Feb 23 to ascertain reasons for the delay in the construction of family suites and devise a mechanism for taking action against those responsible for the delay.

According to a statement issued by the National Assembly Secretariat after the meeting, which was held in-camera, the deputy speaker expressed dissatisfaction over the delays in constructing family suites and servant quarters in Parliament Lodges.The project was started in May 2011 and was scheduled to be completed in November 2013.

He said negligence on CDA`s part and the construction firm`s part had resulted in the delay.

CDA Chairman Sheikh Ansar Aziz told the committee that in compliance of the committee`s decision on Dec 21, 2016, a three member committee had been formed headed by CDA member planning to probe into the delay in constructing 104 family suites and servant quarters.

He said the CDA was the executing agency and was responsible for conducting the project within the stipulated time.

Talking about the project, the CDA member planning said that the department, consultant and the construction firm were responsible for the delay in the project.

He said CDA has imposed a 10pc penalty on the construction firm and that following the committee`s directions work on the site has been stopped, though the firm has pleaded before an arbitrator, whose decision the CDA was waiting for.

According to sources, during the meeting the CDA submitted a report of seven fact findinginquiries and three formal inquiries. Members of the committee are said to have criticised CDA`s lenient approach towards corrupt elements.

Two of the three formal inquiries are related to the supply of substandard furniture in various suites in Parliament Lodges and one relates to the substandard work done in the cafeteria.

A CDA official is said to have told the committee that two of the formal inquiries are in their final stages and that strict action has been taken after the inquiry regarding the cafeteria.

A source in Parliament said that according to the papers submitted by the CDA to the committee, a show cause notice was served to the chairman of the committee which conducted the inquiry but gave a clean chit to those involved in the scam. The CDA told the committee that the inquiry officer had only imposed minor penalties on the accused and that proper penalties were levied after a fresh inquiry.

The deputy speaker constituted a subcommittee led by MNA Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal to review the reports of the fact finding inquires and submits its report during the committee`s next meeting.