Cantonment antics: Auditors detect over Rs16m irregularities

Zoning violations galore as illegal home-based businesses thrive.

RAWALPINDI: The auditors have detected an array of financial irregularities and mismanagement in the accounts of two cantonment boards during the last financial year.

The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) in its report for 2011-12 revealed that the Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards have violated rules and regulations in various matters, causing huge losses to the civic bodies.

The report found a case of non-recovery of Rs16.573 million fee which was later examined at a meeting of the Departmental Accounts Committee (DAC) of the boards on October 28, 2011.

Serious violations of building bylaws are not supposed to be compounded, the report says.

According to regulations, “In case it was compounded, the composition fee shall be charged by the cantonment boards for commercial construction at a minimum of 10 per cent of the assessed capital cost of the land and building”.

According to Chaklala’s cantonment board regulations, unauthorised construction was to be regularised after payment of projection and composition fee.



During the audit of the cases of two plots in Chaklala Scheme III, it was observed that the owners of the plots had carried out construction on unauthorised projections.

The case was placed before the board and it was decided that the unauthorised construction would be regularised after payment of Rs4.62 million as composition fee and Rs7.87 million projection fee.

“The owners had not deposited the fees, and when pointed out by the audit in August 2010, the executive authority replied that the lessees had not yet deposited the dues despite issuance of notices,” the audit report says.

The DAC was informed that the lessees failed to pay the fee and the cases had been referred to the cantonment magistrate. The audit suggested proper pursuance of the case in the court for an early decision and recovery of the fee.

During the scrutiny of cases relating to Qasimabad, which falls under the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board, the audit report found that owners of certain properties were running commercial businesses in residential areas.

According to cantonment rules “It is the duty of the executive officer and the staff employed by the cantonment board to see that the dues of the board are correctly and promptly assessed, collected and paid into the treasury”, while development surcharges at the rate of Rs1,000 per square yard will be recovered from owners of a commercial property before the approval of a building plan. This was not done, according to the report, as the owners have not deposited development charges at the prevailing rates.

According to the report, despite several requests by the auditor general, neither evidence regarding recovery of development charges nor the relevant land branch files were produced for audit.

When pointed by the audit in February 2010, a board executive stated that certain properties in Qasimabad had been assessed by the revenue branch.

When contacted by The Express Tribune, RCB Chief Executive Officer Rana Manzoor asked for an emailed list of questions, but five days after the list was sent, he refused to comment.

Chaklala Cantonment Board CEO Dr Sajjad claimed to have no knowledge of the issue and hung up the phone.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2013.