By Asim Hussain
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Friday passed a motion to constitute a special parliamentary committee to investigate and inquire into the tragic PIMS fire incident and formulate proposals for the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) to prevent such incidents in the future.
The motion was moved by Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Azam Nazeer Tarar, who said that the Speaker of the National Assembly, in consultation with the Chairman Senate, may constitute a special committee to investigate and inquire into the tragic incident. Tarar said the committee should have representation from all political parties.
He said the National Assembly Speaker should be authorised to formulate and make changes to its terms of reference (ToRs), as well as review and amend its composition, if required.
He said such changes were part of the parliamentary process and the House could authorise the Speaker accordingly.
While responding to points raised by some lawmakers, Azam Nazeer Tarar said the government would treat the tragic PIMS fire incident as a test case and assured that necessary action would be taken after completion of the ongoing inquiry.
He clarified that Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif had constituted two separate committees to deal with the aftermath of the incident.
He said the first committee, headed by a former senior government official, had been constituted specifically to investigate the PIMS fire incident and did not include any official from PIMS or the Ministry of Health, ensuring an impartial inquiry.
The second committee, headed by Dr Azhar Kayani, had a completely different mandate and was not linked to the inquiry into the fire, he added.
Tarar said the second committee had been tasked with examining the future administration, improvement and provision of healthcare facilities at PIMS and submitting a working paper within 30 days on measures required to improve the hospital. He said the committee comprised experts from different fields, including a doctor, a retired civil servant, a lawyer and another expert, who would assess the hospital’s future requirements.
The minister reiterated that the two committees had separate mandates and should not be confused with each other.
“We have determined to treat this as a test case,” Tarar said, stressing that the government would ensure that the matter was pursued to its logical conclusion.
