Kakar allegedly paid Rs1 million per kanal when the market price hovered between Rs400, 000 to Rs500,000 in Zone-IV, Islamabad. He purchased the land at double the price from Green Tree, a real estate firm. The PMHS has acquired 3,000 kanals of land close to the Simly Dam Road to create around 15,000 plots for federal government employees.
The decision to initiate an enquiry against Kakar and other housing ministry’s officials was taken at a NAB meeting held before the directors generals (DG) Conference last week after scrutinizing the record retrieved from the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation.
“We are going to issue a notice to the former housing minister to appear before NAB investigators and record his statement,” a senior NAB official told The Express Tribune.
Kakar has denied the charges levelled against him. “I have nothing to do with the land scam,” he said, talking to The Express Tribune. “If summoned by NAB, I will clarify my position.” He said the allegations against him were politically motivated and gained momentum when the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) left the coalition. According to him the deal was clinched by the secretary housing and works in 2007-08. Officials responsible for squandering public money in the controversial land deal will also be included in the investigation. NAB decided to include the names of former secretary housing GM Sikandar, former additional interior secretary Zaffar Abbasi and DG FGEHF Sher Afzal Khan in the inquiry last month.
The scam surfaced last year when it was taken up in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the NA standing committee on housing and works.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 30th, 2011.
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