PAC seeks CDA report on plot allotments

* Federal Audit Works DG says no lease or auction was held in allotment of plots

ISLAMABAD: A special committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Friday sought a report from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on the allotment of plots to a former army chief and three aide-de-camps (ADC) of former prime ministers without fulfilling the required criteria.

The committee, which met under the chairmanship of Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, was told by the Federal Audit Works Director General (DG), Asif Arman, that the CDA allotted plots to former army chief General Waheed Kakar and three ADCs to the prime ministers in violation of the rules.

He said the CDA had allotted plots no 345, 314, 315 and 316 in Sector F-11/2 Islamabad to four individuals in violation of the rules and regulations of the authority. Arman said that as per rules, the plots were allotted through open bidding, but in these cases, no lease or auction was held, rather the authority allotted the plots without fulfilling the set criteria.

The committee questioned CDA Chairman, Imtiaz Inayat Ilahi, as to why such allotments were made. However, the chairman expressed his ignorance on the issue and promised to furnish a report in this regard. In response, the Federal Audit Works DG said that these plots were allotted to Justice (r) Riaz Ahmed Sheikh and ADCs Aqeel Bin Sharif, Islam Saeed and Muhammad Nawaz Naseem.

The committee directed the CDA chairman to submit a report within 15 days. Arman informed the committee that former army chief General Waheed Kakar was entitled to a plot of 600 square yards in G-6/4, but later, on the directives of the prime minister, his plot was exchanged with one in F-11/2. Moreover, he was allotted a plot of 1,200 square yards instead of the 600 square yards.

“This plot was also allotted on the directives of the prime minister of that time,” the DG said. The committee was informed that CDA allotted a 100 square yard plot to an individual in the F-7 Markaz for construction of a kiosk worth Rs 1,350 per square yard. But the individual sold the plot within a month of allotment for Rs 3.3 million. The committee asked the CDA to identity who the individual was. The CDA chairman informed the committee that it had been allotted to former adviser to the prime minister, Azhar Sohail. The principal secretary to the PM had recommended this allotment due to which the CDA had allotted the plot to Sohail.

The committee expressed its annoyance on the inquiry of a fire in the Parliament House back in the 1990s by a foreign consultancy firm. Pirzada said the investigation agencies in Pakistan were competent enough to probe into the matter, so why was so much money wasted. app