Thorny path to chase dream of a house

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Citizens lost Rs 80 billion to housing societies

By Ikram Junaidi

ISLAMABAD: Over 40 housing societies have shown dreams of a home to over 160,000 persons and robbed them of Rs 80 billion in federal capital according to a careful estimate based on official documents. The victims blame Cooperative Housing Societies Circle Registrar (CR) office for not taking any action on this abuse.

Daily Times has learnt that in 1981, Islamabad became a district and in 1982 registration of housing societies started. Some societies purchased land in rural areas of the federal capital. Till 1990, residents did not feel any charm in purchasing land in these housing societies.

In 1992, Capital Development Authority (CDA) announced ‘Zoning Regulations’ in which it was decided that Zone II and Zone V would be allocated to housing societies and Zone IV to National Conservative Park. Besides, it was decided that in Zone V, there should be 800 Kanal and in Zone II at least 400 Kinals of land to make for a housing society. Concentration of societies in Zone II is on Fateh Jang Road and in Zone V on GT Road. Though Zone IV is allocated for National Conservation Park, immense construction activities and societies flank Muree Road.

In 1995, development work on housing societies started. Till 2000, allottees paid their dues to housing societies in installments but the process of development remained stagnant. After 2000, number of housing societies started surging and within a few years, it touched the figure of 51.

In 2006 and 2007, files of plots were sold on the highest rates. Meanwhile, some societies merged with each other and number of societies then came down to 41. Nonetheless, housing societies business remained the biggest source of income for the investors and developers.

The societies continued receiving money although most of them did not have land for plots. And they did not stop issuing files of plots to allottees either. Citizens, were retired government employees, overseas Pakistanis and residents of different cities who wanted to live or invest in Islamabad, purchased files of those plots. That practice led to the biggest scam of the federal capital’s history.

Affectees of housing societies Muhammad Naeem, Sohail Jameel, Hanif, Malik Amjad, Zeshan and others told Daily Times that societies allegedly gave handsome share to officials of CR office and kept deceiving them. The CR office had power to stop them from over-selling of files, showing poor quality of work and misuse of money collected from the allotees.

Sources said Malik Din, Cooperative Housing Societies CR, was complacent in the scam. They said he was appointed in the office as an inspector in 1986. In 2002, he was promoted to seat of assistant circle registrar (ACR) and his job was to send reports about the efficiency of the housing societies to higher authorities. They said it was at that time that he could have taken notice of corruption and poor management on part of these housing societies, because of which the allottees would have to suffer a great deal.

In 2009, he was transferred to the post of planning and monitoring officer (PMO). Din, then, went to Islamabad High Court and obtained stay order against his transfer. Later, the court canceled the stay order.

Sources said the new office bore no charm for Din because money was not involved there so he went on one-year leave in August 2009. During leave period, he allegedly used all of his contacts and resources to get back to CR office. The sources said that an influential political personality and some other influential persons of the city also wanted him back and they succeeded. Din was appointed as CR in September 2010.

They said if Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) held an enquiry into the role of CR in allotment of plots by housing societies without land, a scam of billions of rupees would be unearthed.