NA subcommittee meeting: CDA chief’s no show draws fire

NA panel brings privileged motion against CDA chairperson

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on House and Library has decided to bring a privilege motion in the NA against Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Maroof Afzal for failing to attend a meeting here on Tuesday.

The committee met with National Assembly (NA) Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi chairing the meeting. He expressed displeasure over the CDA chief’s absence and said that Afzal had shown a non-serious attitude towards the committee by remaining absent without informing them.

The committee said that due to his indifferent attitude, other officers of the civic body were also not paying heed to the decisions of the committee. They said that during last three years, the CDA acted on only 20 per cent of the committee’s decisions.

The standing committee also expressed its anger at the absence of the Islamabad chief commissioner and directed him to appear in the next meeting. It also deferred the debate on CDA issues till the next meeting.

While reviewing an Inter Departmental Committee (IDC) report evaluating development work on the Federal Employees Cooperative Housing Society (FECHS), parliamentarians also expressed disappointment with the attitude of the FECHS president.

The IDC report said the FECHS president provided possession of only 50 plots to allotees against 226 plots which he had committed with members. The IDC committee reported that only 50 plots were in condition where construction activity can be started if FECHS were to provide electricity and water, while 176 plots are located at a site over a ravine where developed activity was carried out by FECHS, adding that one more year was required for development of this area.

The Deputy Speaker expressing annoyance over the attitude of FECHS, saying that FECHS President Colonel (retd) Nazarul Islam had assured NA members that possession of 1,093 plots would be completed by April 30, 2016, after his request for a change to the original handover deadline of December 30, 2015 was green lit.

The Deputy Speaker said that despite repeated assurance, he was still dillydallying. Abbasi noted that FECHS had turned land marked for the National Assembly Employees Cooperative Society into a commercial hub and NA employees who paid in are being shown ravines instead of plots. It was also revealed that fake allotment letters were issued by FECHS. The deputy speaker directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to prepare a comprehensive plan for investigations into the scam.

In its next meeting, the committee will deliberate over arrangements for transferring possession of plots as soon as possible.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 10^th, 2016.