Embarrassed, yet privileged, Punjab MPAs going to get a regal House

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Embarrassed, yet privileged, Punjab MPAs going to get a regal House


Friday, July 16, 2010

New Punjab Assembly building costs Rs 2.63 bn; 46 Nairobi council members with fake degrees from online diploma mills sacked

By Sabir Shah

LAHORE: At a juncture when 1,167 members of country’s legislative houses are haunted and humiliated by the issue of phony degrees obtained by many of their colleagues from back-street or unaccredited universities in a bid to fulfill the eligibility criterion required to qualify as a law-maker in Pakistan, construction work on the Rs2.63 billion new Punjab Assembly building at Lahore is in full swing.

Sources divulged to The News that the new Punjab Assembly building, spread over an area of 290,000 square feet, will be enough to house over 600 legislators in future.

The awe-inspiring building, facing Cooper Road, will also have a Speaker’s Secretariat, a Chief Minister’s office and an Enclave for the provincial ministers.

The per square foot cost of this new Punjab Assembly building, which will be a replica of the existing structure located at Lahore’s Charing Cross, will thus be Rs9,068 approximately or over six times the cost of constructing an average house for a middle class family anywhere in Pakistan today.

The new structure is actually being built behind the existing one, whose foundation stone was laid by the then undivided India’s Agriculture Minister Sir Jogindar Singh in November 1935.

The then Superintending Architect of West Punjab, Bazel Salune, had designed the old building—a splendid piece of Roman Architecture.

It is noteworthy that expensive granite marble for counter-top vanity, supreme quality teak wood with excellent texture specifications and immaculate Rajasthani sandstone are being used in the construction of the new Punjab Assembly building to give it a lavish look.

The termite-resistant teak wood being used in this new structure of Punjab Assembly is among the highest qualities of this yellowish-brown timber available anywhere.

While granite has been imported from China, tenders have already been called for the import of sandstone in beige and red colours from Rajasthan (India).

The Rajasthani sandstone, expected to cost over Rs6 million alone in this project, is being used to chisel and smoothen the surface.

Made up of quartz grains and other minerals, the Rajasthani sandstone was quarried and used centuries ago by the Moghul kings in a number of historical Indian monuments such as the Red Fort of Agra and King Humayun’s tomb.

Though the Taj Mahal in Agra is made of marble, the other structures in this architectural wonder of the world are primarily made of red sandstone.

Moreover, Rajasthan’s sandstone has also been used in the construction of Indian President’s official residence, the New Delhi Parliament House and the Rajasthan Assembly in Jaipur etc.

Inaugurated by the then Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi in 2005, the new Punjab Assembly building in Lahore may still take around two years to become functional for all practical purposes.

It will be equipped with elevators and escalators, which are being imported from China’s famous Otis Elevator Investment Company.

One of the companies awarded Rs690 million contract in this project, is interestingly owned by the family of one of the incumbent Punjab Assembly members Sheikh Muhammad Ayub.

It is the same company, which has also constructed the Sialkot International Airport, besides having built the two underpasses at the Punjab University during the reign of Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi.

Also owning the prestigious Royal Palm Golf and Country Club in Lahore, this company is currently engaged in construction, flooring, electrification and woodwork at the glamorous new building of the Punjab Assembly.

Besides, more than half a dozen main contractors are also involved in building an Information Technology infrastructure at this state-of-the-art building, besides being awarded contracts for the construction of a classically versatile concrete dome inside the main assembly hall.

Talking to The News, M A Qureshi, Project Manager of MPA Ayubís company, said, “The figures you are quoting are quite accurate, but I wish to add that our company was given this contract in 2005 at a rate of Rs2,380 per square foot for basic construction work. We are still operating on a five-year old rate and as far as the rate of Rs9,068 per square foot is concerned with reference to this new Punjab Assembly building, the cost obviously increases when you make something luxurious.”

He asserted, “We may be the most renowned of all the companies involved in this Rs2.63 billion project, but our share is only Rs690 million, meaning thereby that we are not the only ones involved in constructing this building.”

It is noteworthy that while Pakistan’s legislative houses are currently plagued with the presence of ‘ghost graduates,’ who continue to occupy the assembly desks with minimal guilt, Kenya has very recently terminated 46 members of the Nairobi City Council for possessing bogus degrees issued by the online diploma mills.

Embarrassed, yet privileged, Punjab MPAs going to get a regal House