Unexpected reshuffle: Penniless CDA gets new boss
In a surprise move, Capital Development Authority Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi has been removed from his post and transferred to the newly established Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) as its secretary.
He has been replaced by Engineer Farkhand Iqbal, who was the senior chief engineer of the Planning Commission. The Establishment Division issued notifications of the shuffle on Wednesday.
The incumbent city boss was recently promoted to BPS-21. He has previously served as Director-General of the Police Bureau, joint secretary in the Ministry of Textile Industry and deputy secretary in the Ministry of Environment. He has also served as secretary irrigation Punjab.
He also represented Pakistan in the SAARC Interior Ministers’ conference held in Islamabad last year, where experts discussed ways to improve the policing and immigration issues in the region.
Independent observers and civil society members say that the new CDA chief may face multiple challenges - from financial crisis to political interference and rampant corruption plaguing the agency. It is yet to be seen how he brings out the civic agency from financial straits, weed out corruption and irregularities, starts work on stalled projects and regains the confidence of the citizens.
The Elahi years
Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, a Grade-22 District Management Group (DMG) officer, took over the reigns of the CDA as its 25th chairman on June 24, 2009. In his 29-month tenure, he faced political interference in the affairs of the agency. At present, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is investigating more than 15 CDA-related cases of corruption and irregularities. The Auditor General of Pakistan’s (AGP) annual audit report detected irregularities amounting to Rs10 billion.
Elahi, however, disagreed with the AGP report and FIA’s intervention. He said that the report is based on hearsay and speculations.
The son of a former Peshawar High Court judge, Elahi’s previous stint with the CDA as director-general environment saw phenomenal growth in development and beautification work in the Federal Capital.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2011.
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The capital can have all its issued sorted out if CDA is taken over by Bahria Town or DHA management. There is no check on the in-efficiency, in-competency and corruption in CDA. The city is almost chocked with vehicles and public, CDA is unable to manage and expand the city.