Misplaced priorities: New CDA management fails to address issues

Around 78 internal inquiries have been pending with civic agency for the last one year.

ISLAMABAD: It appears as though the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) new management has failed to address the challenges the civic agency has been confronting.

Officials in the civic agency are apparently unable to comprehend the working style of the new chairman, one of the ruling party’s most trusted bureaucrats. On a regular basis, Nadeem Hasan Asif asks officials to prepare presentations on ideas, only to replace them with new ones.

When Asif took charge some four months ago, plans had been made to expedite work on a number of initiatives on fast track, including the formation of a limited company, a bus rapid transit project, resumption of work on under-construction avenues and completing development work on Park Enclave.

As of today, the bus rapid transit project has been replaced by another similar but small-scaled one, and while the limited company was formed around 45 days ago, its board of directors have not held a single meeting.

The Park Enclave, Kashmir Highway and Margalla Avenue projects have conveniently been put on the backburner.

Meanwhile, CDA officials have also been tasked with developing a plan to build a new airport near Rawat despite the fact a new Islamabad airport near Fatehjang is already under-construction and near completion.

“The idea was floated to give the real-estate market of that specific area a timely boom. Most of the land in the area belongs to a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz member of parliament and a real estate tycoon,” said an official.

The civic agency’s directionless management has not only failed to execute new projects or expedite work on the ongoing ones, but has also disregarded its day-to-day affairs.

Take for example the approximately 78 internal inquiries pending with the CDA since October 1, 2012.

As of today, scant progress on the pending inquiries has been made.

The report on internal inquiries confirms that 28 are disciplinary, 45 fact-finding, seven are based on an Islamabad High Court judicial commission report and five are court-related inquiries.

The report further says that there are around 24 inquiries for which investigation officers have not yet been named. Reports for another 24, which were initiated three months ago, have not been submitted as investigation officers have apparently had no time to finalise them.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2013.