CDA expects no funding for new projects

[Salman]

CDA expects no funding for new projects

ISLAMABAD, May 27: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) will announce over Rs27 billion budget for the fiscal year 2012-13 in the first week of June, and there will be no funding from the federal government for any new project, Member Finance Javed Jehangir told Dawn on Sunday.

The authority has planned to execute some new development projects on a self-finance basis.

“Earlier, we had roughly prepared a Rs25 billion budget, but as we have to include 15 per cent proposed increase in the salaries of our employees, the budget will go up to Rs27 billion,” the official said.

The civic agency’s budget for the current fiscal year was Rs23.99 billion.

The official said out of the total Rs27 billion, a sum of Rs8 billion would be set aside for non-development expenditure (salaries, pension, offices and POL) while the remaining over Rs19 billion will be spent on maintenance work and uplift schemes.

Another official of the finance wing added that the government had earmarked Rs1.67 billion for development projects of CDA under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

The amount is being given for ongoing schemes, not for any new project.

He said the authority had also demanded of the government to provide it Rs2 billion for the maintenance of government buildings. In Islamabad, majority of official buildings and houses are maintained by the CDA while the Public Works Department (PWD) looks after a very small number of structures.

“We have demanded Rs2 billion for the maintenance work but it is up to the government how much it allocates under this head,” he said. At present, the CDA is facing acute financial crisis because of prevailing slump in real estate market on which it mainly depended to meet its expenditures.

“We have planned auctioning of commercial plots in Blue Area to meet our expenditure, especially for construction of roads, bridges, water supply schemes and opening of stalled residential sectors,” said CDA Chairman Farkhand Iqbal.

Despite the financial crunch, he said, the CDA would execute some new projects like construction of Margalla Avenue, 11th Avenue, a new road from sector B-17 to D-12, Park Enclave, media centre in the Diplomatic Enclave and public transport service etc.

A source in the CDA’s revenue directorate said the authority had again proposed 100 per cent increase in property tax and water charges that was rejected by the government last year.