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Offices of CM’s Secretariat shifted 13 times since April: From 7-Club Road to 8-Club Road and back in Rs 1.4m
 By Anwer Hussain Sumra
LAHORE: The provincial government had to face an extra financial burden of Rs 1.4 million for shifting the offices of the Chief Minister’s (CM) Secretariat from 7-Club Road to 8-Club Road and then back to 7-Club Road in GOR-I.
Sources in the CM’s Secretariat told Daily Times the paraphernalia of officers in the secretariat had been shifted as many as 13 times from April to June. They said the last time such shifting of offices was done was on June 11, when the offices of the secretary, additional secretaries and deputy secretaries were moved from 8-Club Road to 7-Club Road, after the CM postponed moving his residence to 7-Club Road over security concerns.
On June 1, the offices of the CM’s Secretariat at 7-Club Road were moved to 8-Club Road on short notice, with 7-Club Road likely to be declared the official residence of the CM. Sources said the shifting of paraphernalia, supervised by Chief Secretary Javed Mehmood, Planning and Development Chairman Sami Saeed and the Buildings Department chief engineer, was done during the night, and labourers were hired on overtime for it. The sources said the vacated secretariat was renovated on short notice, but on June 11, the CM postponed his shifting to the premises.
Cost of moving: They said the Buildings Department had to pay a total of Rs 0.4 million for hiring labour to shift the paraphernalia of the offices on the 13 occasions since April. They said the secretariat had to face a total loss of Rs 1 million in lieu of breaking of office equipment, alterations in furniture, and the installation of official machinery.
The sources said this shifting process had not stopped, and some offices of the CM’s staff would likely be shifted again from 7-Club Road to 8-Club Road to accommodate a senior bureaucrat in the annexe of 7-Club Road. An official of the Comptroller Office at the CM’s Secretariat, asking not to be named, confirmed to Daily Times that further shifting of offices was likely. CM’s Secretariat Deputy Secretary (Administration) Amer Ghazi did not attend his phone, and the operator said he was busy.
Daily Times: Saturday, June 27, 2009
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