DLP Report
PESHAWAR
Officials from the Workers Welfare Board (WWB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have clarified the reasons behind the delay in allotting 2,056 family flats at the Regi Lalma Labor Colony in Peshawar, citing the colony’s temporary use as a quarantine center during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent infrastructural challenges.
According to a statement issued here, the officials stated that the flats, completed in 2021, remained unoccupied after being designated by the district administration as quarantine facilities in 2020.
The statement furthered that delay in allocation to industrial workers was further compounded by legal and procedural requirements.
In the WWB’s 98th board meeting held in 2022, it was recommended that these units be allotted to workers on a rental basis under the Workers Welfare Fund Ordinance 1971 and Allotment Regulations 2002.
It said that the recommendation was reaffirmed in the 99th board meeting in 2023, authorizing the Provincial Allotment Committee to proceed with allocations until final instructions are received from the central Workers Welfare Fund office in Islamabad.
Despite facing challenges, the board moved forward with the allotment process and submitted its recommendations to the Allotment Committee on May 7, 2024. A public advertisement inviting applications was published in major newspapers on May 21, 2024. To date, 609 applications have been received from workers representing 51 industrial units.
Additionally, official requests were sent to the Directorate of Labor and the Employees Social Security Institution for the registered workers’ data from Peshawar, which has since been provided.
The WWB acknowledged that the absence of an electricity supply had further delayed the occupation of the flats. However, they assured that power connections would be ensured within 15 days.
Under the Allotment Regulations 2002 (Amended 2023), the flats will be allotted in the first phase based on a quota system for active industrial units, it added.
