New Diplomatic Enclave: CDA may lose Rs3.29b to land grabbers

ISLAMABAD:

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) may lose billions of rupee to illegal occupants of its land that was allotted to UN missions in the new Diplomatic Enclave, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The civic agency had allotted 16 acres of land worth $38.72 million (about Rs3.29 billion) to UN for shifting its various agencies currently housed in residential areas. An agreement to this effect was inked between the CDA and the UN recently. The CDA Board has also approved the allotment of the land at a rate of $500 per square yard, that according to officials in the CDA’s planning wing, will provide a new lease of life to the cash-strapped civic agency to shore up its dwindling resources.

They added that the UN entered into the land agreement with the civic agency after the Supreme Court’s recent decision, directing the civic agency to retrieve its land from illegal occupants.

The authority on the directive of the Supreme Court launched an operation against the land grabbers in different sectors, including Malpur Village.

However, sources in the authority, said that the operation was not being conducted consistently in Malpur Village, where CDA land has illegally been occupied by locals, including some influential persons.

“If the CDA does not succeed in taking back its land, it will lose both the multi-billion agreement with the UN as well as the land”, they maintain. “This is an opportunity the cash-strapped agency can generate the much-needed revenue and shift foreign missions from residential areas to the new Diplomatic Enclave,” they said.

But the Director General (planning) Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu, who is also heading the operation, defended tactics of halting the operation against land grabbers temporarily to avoid their strong resistance. He confirmed that 700 acres acquired by the agency in the area was under illegal occupation.

He also confirmed intense pressure from the influentials to regain control of Malpur Village. “I have been receiving many calls asking to halt operation there,” he said. Responding to a question, he said, “We have already told the UN missions that eight to 10 months will be required to take back the land in point from the squatters in Malpur Village.”

CDA board member (finance) Saeedur Rehman was of the view that the sale price of the land is lower than the market rate as there is a possibility that the government would pay subsidy to the CDA for the land, as usually happened in most of such cases.

He said the practice will also discourage the use of private buildings by foreign missions in the residential areas of the federal capital after their shifting to the highly fortified Diplomatic Enclave.

At least 91 foreign embassies and UN missions are currently housed in and operating from residential areas of the capital in violation of building bylaws.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2011.