CDA fails to use 50pc of 2007-08 budget * Unskilled staff blamed for failure to launch development projects

[LRE]

CDA fails to use 50pc of 2007-08 budget

* Unskilled staff blamed for failure to launch development projects

By Fazal Sher

ISLAMABAD: While the Capital Development Authority (CDA) is all set to announce its budget for Fiscal Year 2008-09, it has failed to utilise 50 percent of its total budget of Rs 24.959 billion for the ongoing financial year (2007-2008).

The authority’s budget is divided into three main heads: self-finance, revenue and Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

In the ongoing financial year, Rs 18.625 billion had been budgeted for 163 projects under self-finance, Rs 845 million for eight projects under revenue and Rs 17.41 million for 25 projects under PSDP, a senior official of CDA told Daily Times on Sunday.

The authority has so far utilised 46 percent of self-finance allocations, 50 percent of revenue allocations and 37 percent of PSDP allocations. In the ongoing financial year, the authority had allocated 79 per cent budget for development projects like construction of roads, interchanges, underpasses and sinking of new water and sewerage lines. The remaining 21 per cent of the budget was allocated for meeting non-development expenditures.

The official said that big chunks of allocations meant for improvement of decades-old water supply and sewerage system could not be utilised due to a host of reasons, causing problems to the residents. The CDA official said that a major chunk of budget was spent on construction of roads.

The important projects, which the authority could not launch under the self-finance head are dualisation of service road (SR) (West) I-9 and H-9 from (East) G-10 to IJP Road including underpasses (Rs 200 million), construction of 11th Avenue including underpasses (Rs 250 million), phase/sector wise rehabilitation/replacement of sewerage system (Rs 30 million), improvement of different Marakiz (Rs 200 million), construction of underpasses on Jinnah Avenue SR (West) and Ibn-e-Sina Road (Rs 200 million), construction of Zero Point Interchange (Rs 100 million), feasibility study on Islamabad Mass Transit System (Rs 100 million), development of Industrial Sector I-17 (Rs 100 million), construction of a medical college (Rs 100 million), construction of a new fruit market at Sangjani (Rs 100 million), construction of an underpass and an overhead bridge at Aabpara (Rs 40 million), purchase of street cleaning machines (Rs 20 million), development of Botanical Garden (Rs 50 million), construction of recreational facilities in different areas (Rs 250 million), construction of CDA Headquarters near Zarai Taraqiati Bank (Rs 100 million), construction of residential accommodation for CDA employees (Rs 100 million), development of community centres (Rs 100 million), construction of a teaching hospital (Rs 100 million), construction of an interchange at Pirwadhai Intersection on IJ Principal Road (Rs 100 million), construction of a flyover on Kashmir Highway at Peshawar Morr (Rs 72.44 million, development of Shalimar Park, F-7/3 (Rs 66.37 million), construction of a sewage treatment plant at Rawal Lake (Rs 25 million) and cleaning and landscaping of nullahs (Rs 71.62 million).

Unskilled staff: The official blamed the authority’s failure to utilise allocations made for different projects on the unskilled staff.

Similarly, the most important projects, which could not be launched under the PSDP head are conduction of water from the Indus to the federal capital (Rs 300 million), addition of 3rd and 4th lanes to Kashmir Highway from Peshawar Morr to Golra Morr (Rs 50 million), construction of residential and non-residential accommodation for police at President House (Rs 50 million), construction of a residential colony at Aiwan-e-Sadr (Rs 24.034 million), and construction of an official residence for the National Assembly speaker (Rs 57.420 million).

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...008_pg11_1