Officials' foreign visit disrupts CDA operations

Two senior officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) have departed for a 10-day official visit to South Korea without delegating their responsibilities, effectively halting operations in the critical planning division.

Sources told The Express Tribune that Member Planning Dr Khalid Hafeez and Director General Planning Zafar Iqbal Zafar left the country recently for an official visit. However, prior to their departure, neither officer appointed substitutes to handle day-to-day affairs in their absence.

As a result, dozens of pending files are reportedly stagnating, and no progress is being made on crucial planning matters.

According to sources, the planning division regularly receives dozens of files that require review and approval through a structured process involving over a dozen subordinate officers.

With both top officials absent and no interim appointments made, the department is described as being effectively paralysed.

A senior CDA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that not only did the two officials fail to delegate their authority as per standard administrative procedure. Efforts to contact the CDA chief for comment were unsuccessful.