If things had gone according to plan, Islamabad would have gotten its cinema three years ago. But things here rarely go according to plan.
Despite the passage of five years, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has yet to complete a planned cultural complex in Shakarparian.
Initiated back in 2007, the project, which is spread over 25 acres, was floated by then-CDA Chairman Kamran Lashari with hopes to provide better facilities to city residents. However, the project is still pending despite the fact that three CDA chiefs have come since then.
The estimated cost of the project was Rs1.2 billion, with a completion time of two years. Designed by Associated Consulting Engineers, it would have had a cinema of international standards, a swimming pool, a restaurant, a theatre with seating capacity of over 3,000, and a conference hall.
Currently, Islamabad does not have a cinema. The last one to be operational ---Melody Cinema --- was burnt down by activists of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) on October 7, 2003 after the unrelated assassination of their chief Maulana Azam Tariq.
CDA sources told The Express Tribune that high-ups of authority abandoned the cultural complex after the removal of Kamran Lashari, and no chairman since has paid serious attention to the abandoned project.
The authority has so far spent Rs300 million, a fourth of the initial estimated cost, on the structure of the complex. “During the tenure of Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, the financial position was a bit better than it is right now, but even then, the project was not completed, which would indicate the non-serious attitude of the authority,” the source said.
Another senior official requesting anonymity said that the authority “completely ignored” the project after the establishment of the Pak-China Cetnre in December 2010. The contractor was forced to move the court against CDA, the official added.
CDA spokesperson Ramzan Sajid admitted that project has been pending for five years. “The financial crunch is the main reason behind the delay; projects like the cultural complex were initiated by former chairman Kamran Lashari in what was a financial golden age,” he remarked.
However he hoped that newly-appointed CDA Chairman Tahir Shahbaz would seek reports on all pending projects including the stalled complex and move them forward.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2012.
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