Bank selection for housing project: CS orders probe into complaints

PESHAWAR: Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr Kazim Niaz on Friday ordered a high-level inquiry into the allegations and complaints against the provincial housing department for selecting a bank for a mega housing project in Jalozai.

The chief secretary had already extended the deadline for submission of the application forms for the project as the majority of the applicants complained against the slow process of work at the bank.

A two-member commission with Abid Majeed, a senior civil servant serving as secretary to the government, as chairman and special secretary of the finance department Ayaz Khan as member has been constituted with very elaborate terms of references (TORs). The committee has been directed to submit its report within 15 days.

The KP government has launched a mega residential project in Jalozai. The housing department gave the contract for forms submission and down payment to a bank.

Hundreds of applicants after standing in queues for hours to submit their application forms hopelessly returned home when the local administration closed the process after accusing the bank management of violating the anti-COVID-19 SOPs on Wednesday.

Senior government officials told ‘The News’ that the minister of housing, Dr Amjad Ali Khan, was not taken on board by his department while choosing the bank and signing the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with it.