After four-year lapse: RDA approves annual budgets

RAWALPINDI: Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) in its general body meeting held on Wednesday approved its annual budgets for the last three years. Recent budgets did not get formal approval because general body had not met for four years.

In the meeting held at the office of the divisional commissioner the governing body, the long-pending regularisation of 34 contract Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) employees was approved in principle and referred to the relevant committee.

The RDA governing body meeting was chaired by Punjab Finance Minister Dr Aysha Ghaus Pasha and was attended by MPA Raja Hanif, MPA Chaudhry Sarfaraz Afzal, MPA Lubna Rehan, Commissioner Azmat Mahmood, Deputy Commissioner Talat Mahmmod Gondal, and WASA Managing Director Raja Shaukat Mahmood.

An official who attending the meeting said that the body deferred the proposal of RDA to increase fees for transfer of plots and the proposal of WASA to increase water charges. The meeting also asked RDA and WASA to improve its recovery of dues.

The meeting also directed the WASA authorities not to end posts for social mobilisation officer and change the process for promotion of assistant directors. The chairperson also directed the WASA authorities to utilise funds to hire the required staff within five months. She also asked the RDA to present a summary for authorisation to utilise lapsed metro bus project funding.

The official, requesting anonymity, said the chairperson said RDA governing body meetings would now be held regularly. A meeting of the body was last held in 2013. Since then, a Punjab Finance Department subcommittee had been approving the RDA’s annual budgets.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2017.