CDA puts checks on illegal transfers of plots

Security directorate starts monitoring officers

ISLAMABAD:

The apex civic agency of the capital has started tracking the activities of its officers in their respective offices to keep a tab on illegal transfers of plots.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has come out openly in first accepting that there is a practice of the illegal transfer of plots in the Capital, and secondly taking action ¬ at least against its own officers, an official of the authority said requesting anonymity.

“The actual beneficiaries, who demand and direct the illegal acquisition of property, remain untouchable,” said a CDA officer adding that those suspended from services or the goons on the front are simply pawns in the land grabbing racket.

The Security Directorate has been assigned the task to keep watch on what is going on at the Land, Estate Management Directorate and One Window Operation (OWO) Directorate. Moreover, the administration of the CDA has formed a committee to check each and every land transfer file.

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The civic agency has garnered courage to face the land mafia following directives from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat to take strict action against land grabbers.

CDA administration has for the first time established a check and self-accountability system to stop these attempts in which land mafia as well as CDA officers and officials were reportedly involved, said a statement issued by the authority.

CDA administration taking stern action has so far suspended two directors, three deputy directors, four assistant directors and several other gazetted and non-gazetted officers and officials of the Land, Estate Management Directorate and One Window Operation (OWO) Directorate who were allegedly involved in these wrong doings.

Beside above in-house actions, CDA authorities took the cognisance of the matter in a serious manner by engaging and referring a few cases to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate such cases in more detailed manner to eradicate the criminal abuse of power for the illegal transfer of plots.

For instance, the CDA statement said, the cases of fake allotments of plots in sectors I-12, I-14 and F-11/3 (Bekha Syedan) were referred to FIA for legal action against the land mafia and the CDA officers who got the documents cleared.

The attempts for transfer of these fake allotments were captured by the staff of Directorate of Security at the time of transfer. The issues requiring further inquiry to pin point the transgressors, offenders and to determine loss cause to the authority and to fix the responsibilities the CDA administration constituted inquiry committee.

Further to control movement of fake plot files, a committee has been constituted to scrutinize genuineness of each plot file before any transfer. The said committee is regularly performing their assigned task in a speedy manner.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2020.