ISLAMABAD — The government may be tightening its belt, but apparently Prime Minister’s Office needs to keep its chillers, air-conditioners, swimming-pool boiler and backup power system in better shape.
Capital Development Authority (CDA) invited bids for five maintenance and repair packages worth around Rs39 million at Prime Minister’s Office (Public) Executive Building in Islamabad, just as federal government continues its austerity and expenditure-control drive.
CDA’s latest tender proposes spending millions to ensure that the executive offices remain adequately cooled, powered and, among other things, that the swimming pool’s water can still be heated. Finance Division lists the 2026-27 austerity measures as part of efforts to control federal expenditure.
To be fair, this is not a tender for a new swimming pool, a new office building or some freshly conceived executive facility. The advertised works involve repair, replacement and maintenance of existing infrastructure. Still, the details offer unusual picture of what “keeping the lights on” costs inside one of the country’s most important government complexes.
The biggest amount, estimated at Rs7.885 million, covers the repair, maintenance, servicing and descaling of Chiller Nos. 1 and 2 installed at the Executive Building. Another Rs12.467 million has been earmarked for repairs to package-type air-conditioning units, including RAC-II, RAC-V, RAC-VI, AC-12 and the meeting-room AC, along with allied works.
In other words, austerity may be in force, but Islamabad’s top offices apparently cannot afford to let AC become part of the austerity programme. A further Rs12.902 million package covers installation of a critical power backup system, intended to eliminate the time currently required for feeder shifting.
There is also Rs2.599 million for civil and E&M repairs in Room No. 334-A, identified as the Library. And then comes the line item likely to attract the most public attention: Rs3.162 million for replacement of an electric water boiler for the swimming pool.
The swimming-pool boiler item is important in understanding what the tender actually represents. CDA is not proposing to build a new pool. Rather, it is replacing equipment associated with an existing swimming-pool facility at the complex. Likewise, the chiller and AC packages concern existing HVAC systems, while the power-backup package is designed to improve reliability of the existing electrical supply.
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