ISLAMABAD: A senior official of the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) has said the grey structure of 680 apartments in the Life Style Residency project was near completion whereas a block of 468 apartments was under construction.
“As soon as civil work on the remaining apartments gets into small tangible shape, balloting for the entire lot of 1,148 apartments will be held collectively, to avoid any chances of discrimination amongst the members,” he told reporter.
Commenting on the balloting of ‘C’ category apartments, he said no member ever made full payment till 2015, as the payment schedule concluded on March 31, 2021.
He noted that every member had agreed to the terms and conditions of the project, wherein it was clearly mentioned in the Provisional Offer Letter (POL) that “In case of any delay in handing over possession of apartment on account of unavoidable unforeseen circumstances, the allottee shall not be entitled to claim compensation from the EHFPRO (construction company)”.
To a query about the delay in project, the official said due to the increase in the prices of construction materials, the overall cost of the project rose abnormally. As a result, the original completion timeline became unviable.
The COVID-19 Pandemic, he said, globally affected activities in all walks of life, but the “construction industry was adversely impacted”, as basic supplies like steel, cement, concrete, etc became scarce and costlier, besides the labour pools got dispersed. Re-mobilization of all such resources resulted in the wastage of precious time apart from requiring more money.
Despite these handicaps, all-out efforts were being made to generate additional funds through alternative means and complete the infrastructure including, electricity/gas connections, water supply and sewerage systems, etc. at the earliest and hand over possession of apartments to the members as soon as possible, he maintained.
The Lifestyle Residency Project was launched in July 2016. Construction work on the project formally started in September 2017, with an expected completion timeline by the middle of the year 2021. However, due to multiple reasons, beyond the control of EHFPRO, mainly the delay in issuance of various NOCs and approvals of Building Plans by CDA, and subsequently work restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the project could not be completed in time.