Complicated issue of plot allotments in Islamabad!

[LahoreEstate]

Friday, April 17, 2009
by Muhammad Ahmad Noorani

Islamabad

How plots are being allotted in posh and expensive sectors of Islamabad is an interesting phenomena and new facts are throwing light on this process. In one case the officer who allots plots to others has himself acquired an expensive plot, and says he has the right to do so.

Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF) Director General Sher Afzal, however, said that the plot was allotted to him in accordance with rules.

But interestingly before he got the plot in Sector I-8, the FGEHF Executive Committee offered plots to CDA chairman and all the six CDA members in other sectors.

But these offers were not meant to bribe CDA for getting the plot in I-8 sector, Mr Sher Afzal told ‘The News’.

According to official documents, Sher Afzal, who is responsible for allotting plots to federal government employees from junior cadres to federal secretaries, is a grade-19 officer, who was appointed as the foundation’s DG in January this year but had joined the FGEHF six months back. No plots were available then in sector I-8 with FGEHF.

CDA provides required plots to FGEHF in sector I-8 measuring 600 square yards to officers in Grade 20 and above but still a Grade-19 officer got one because he is head of the FGEHF.

Currently FGEHF is making allotments to federal government employees in sector G-14. However, according to DG Sher Afzal, plots could also be allotted in other sectors if available. The location wise value of plots in the capital city Islamabad is very different from other cities as according to real estate experts the prices of plots existing in luxurious sectors like I-8 are extremely high than those existing in far flung sectors like G-14.

According to one such expert the price of 600 square yard plot in sector I-8 is Rs30 million while that a plot with the same measurement in sector G-14 is merely Rs3 million to Rs4 million.

When Sher Afzal was asked that plots to other federal government employees were being allotted in sectors G-13 and G-14, how could he allot himself a plot in sector I-8, he replied that as plots were available in sector I-8 so he got one.

Asked that according to information with ‘The News’ plots in sector I-8 were in fact not available and that he had offered 7 plots to top CDA officials including CDA Chairman Tariq Mehmood, member finance Saeed-ur-Rehman, member administration SM Farooqi, member P&D Syed Tanveer Hussain Bokhari, member engineering Tahir Shamshad, member environment Mazhar Hussain and member Estate Brigadier ® Asad Munir and in return demanded plots in Sector I-8, Sher Afzal replied that these plots were offered to these CDA officials, but this offer was never meant to bribe them to create more plots in I-8.

The DG, FGEHF told this correspondent last Wednesday that CDA chairman and CDA members had accepted the offer and were ready to get their plots. However, on Monday he said that all the members and chairman have now refused to accept the offer.

‘The News’ had also learnt reliably that all the CDA officials were ready to take the plots, but when they came to know the scandalous nature of the whole episode and learnt that media had started probing it, they dropped the idea to take these plots.

CDA members Briggadier ® Asad Munir and Saeed-ur-Rehman told ‘The News’ that they were not availing the plots offered by FGEHF. Sources close to members SM Bokhari and Tahir Shamshad say that these two members are also not willing to avail the offer. Syed Tanveer Hussain Bokhari was of the view that he didn’t avail any plot so far, but offer of FGEHF was not in a good spirit and FGEHF) should not lay ambiguous conditions for it.

Mazhar Hussain was of the view that though he has already taken a plot back in 1985 from CDA, he will only avail this opportunity if there is nothing wrong legally in availing it. “If I will avail the offer, I will avail publicly and not secretly,” Mazhar said.

CDA Chairman Tariq Mehmood told ‘The News’ that he was never officially offered a plot by the FGEHF. “Verbally some officials offered me a plot, which I refused and will not accept it,” he said.

While giving his response to ‘The News’, Sher Afzal said: “Allotments of plots to the officers of FGEHF are made on the basis of one per cent quota only to those employees who have served 10 years in government and have served in FGEHF for not less than six months. In my case I have more than 13 years service and I have completed six months of mandatory service in FGEHF. No deviation from the rules and law has been made in my case. Everyday we issue dozens of allotments to federal government employees, and if one allotment has been made as per rules in my favour, it is not a major event.” Sher further added: “Executive committee of housing foundation in its 105th meeting has confirmed category-I allotment in my favour.” Asked that he was only a Grade-19 officer and could not get a Category-2 plot, how he had managed to get a plot for Grade-20 and higher officials, Sher Afzal replied that the Executive Committee had allotted him the plot in Sector I-8.

On the other hand head of the executive committee and federal secretary housing and works GM Sikandar, while talking to ‘The News’ said that executive committee never allotted any plot to Sher Afzal in sector I-8. “He may himself have allotted the plot to himself,” Sikandar said.

Another member of the executive committee, Syed Tanveer Hussain Bokhari, who is also member planning CDA, said that executive committee members were not aware that Sher Afzal was in grade-19 rather they were considering him a grade-20 employee as he was DG, FGEHF which is a grade-20 post.

He too said that executive committee has nothing to do with the allotment to Sher Afzal in sector I-8. He said that he was even unaware that whether executive committee has permitted Sher to get a category-I plot.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=172974