Diplomatic Enclave bus shuttle service: Civic body ‘misplaces’ own records

Following the IHC’s move against a controversial contract, the records are nowhere to be found.

ISLAMABAD: The records pertaining to the controversial Diplomatic Enclave shuttle service contract have gone ‘missing’.

Official sources in Capital Development Authority (CDA) said that the records were not produced before the auditor, following the start of an investigation into the contract. The auditor was told that the records had been misplaced.

In their opinion, it was an attempt made by some officials of CDA’s Planning Wing to hide the facts behind the contract, as the authority had failed to advertise the contract at the time of the award.

The civic body has also refused to share details of the contract with the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration, on the grounds that it was an internal matter.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) recently moved against the controversial award of the shuttle service to a contractor, allegedly against the rules of Pakistan Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA). The IHC also issued notices to CDA and ICT to appear before the court on March 29 to explain the rationale behind having an expensive shuttle service for visa seekers.

According to the Secretary of Islamabad Transport Authority (ITA), the ITA took notice of the irregularities in the contract following various news items published in The Express Tribune. “CDA did not provide the details of the deed between its Planning Wing and the shuttle’s contractor,” he added. CDA Planning Wing Director-General Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu confirmed that the records had been misplaced and said that they had launched an inquiry. “It is an attempt by some of the authority’s officials to defame me,” he claimed.

He said the ICT had no power to investigate a purely internal matter of CDA. “The land where the shuttle service’s terminal was established belongs to CDA and we will use our asset as we see fit,” he added. Moreover, he said that the CDA did not need an approval from ICT to run the shuttle service as it was “not public transport.”

CDA Chairperson Imtiaz Inayat Elahi has assigned an inquiry officer with the task to produce the misplaced record, Sindhu said, adding, “If the records are not traced, then CDA would brief the court on the facts of the matter.”

ICT officials, however, were in disagreement. “We have the power to conduct an investigation into the matter. The CDA did not cooperate with us and we will inform the court about irregularities in the shuttle service contract,” an ICT official said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2011.