MPs smell a rat in CDA financial affairs

[Salman]

Islamabad - Capital Development Authority Thursday informed the NA standing committee on cabinet that it had yet to recover outstanding amount of Rs 9.5 billion generated through auction of residential and commercial plots due to pending litigation and other related reasons.
The amount in question is outstanding against almost 38 plots including three residential and 35 commercial auctioned during financial year 2013-14. But later the successful bidders moved courts for one reason or the other, leaving enormous receivables unpaid.
The national assembly standing committee on cabinet secretariat met at the Parliament House to discuss financial issues of CDA. Chairman committee Rana Muhammad Hayat Khan called an inquiry into what he termed “great difference and contradiction in existing and previous figures placed by the CDA before the committee over the issue.” In previous meeting of the committee held in third week of December 2014, the authority had placed entirely different figures regarding revenue generated by the CDA since July 2008 through sale of commercial and residential land across Islamabad and outstanding receivables under this head.
“There is a great disparity in numbers. Either previously presented report was false or the one placed before the panel today,” Khan said while cautioning the chairman CDA Maroof Afzal not to take the prestigious forum lightly. “I start an inquiry into the issue. Who tried to mislead committee through statistics will be fixed?” the chairman CDA Maroof Afzal said before tendering an apology to the chairman of the committee. Report presented by the CDA says during July 2008 to June 2014 the authority auctioned a total of 2,315 plots - 2171 residential and 144 commercial - at different developed sectors of Islamabad for Rs 52.23 billion.
Maroof Afzal informed the committee that being an autonomous body the CDA mainly relies on sale of Islamabad’s land to meet its developmental and non-developmental expenditures. Of Rs 52.23 billion, the authority so far received Rs 38.5 billion, while instalments amounting to Rs 4.23 billion against plots were in process. Besides that Rs 9.5 billion bids against 38 auctioned commercial residential plots are struck against due to pending litigations at different courts of law.
“In most of the cases the investors moved courts against the CDA on grounds that promised facilities were not provided on auctioned plots,” the committee was informed.
The committee also discussed in detail the issues related to payment of compensation to affectees of residential sectors H-16 and I-17.
The CDA informed that award of different villages falling within the limits of these sectors was announced in 2009. According to award lists, the CDA promised provision of cash compensation to some 5719 affected locals. So far, cash compensation amounting to Rs 2.1 billion has been distributed among 1284 affected locals, while 4435 are yet to be compensated. The chairman CDA said the process of payment delayed due to tense situation created by the big land owners of these two sectors, as they think the compensation amount of Rs 830,000 per kanal of their land was insufficient. Many of the committee members raised their eyebrows when the CDA informed that in 2009 soon after the announcement of award, cash compensation of over Rs 1 billion was given to a single individual, who is a famous property tycoon, within a matter of just one day. The chairman of the committee directed secretary cabinet division to constitute a committee consisting of high ups of the cabinet division, the CDA and National Assembly Secretariat to probe that how payment of Rs 1 billion made to one person while small land owners were running from pillar to post to get their promised right.
MNA Malik Abrar, a member of the committee, said the CDA is of the view that it does not have funds to give cash compensation to locals. “A committee has been formed having representation from locals to weigh the option of replacement of cash compensation with land sharing formula,” Abrar said.
Land sharing formula provides allotment of plots at same sector instead of cash compensation in lieu of acquired land of locals.
The meeting was attended by MNA’s Sardar mohammad Irfan Dogar, Shahnaz Saleem, Seema Mohiuddin Jameeli, Farhana Qamar, Marrium Aurangzeb, Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju and Dr Mehreen Razzaq Bhutto besides officials of the Cabinet Division and the CDA.