Business on hold: Repeated auction delays hindering development

CDA has set October 13 and 14 as new date for commercial land auction.

ISLAMABAD:

City managers have once again put off the scheduled commercial land auction in the capital fearing possible failure to lure investors under the given political situation.

It is the third time in the last three weeks that the authority has postponed the auction on account of the ‘political situation being unfavourable to achieve desired results from the commercial land sale’.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) mainly relies on the sale of land to meet day to day development and non-development expenditures. In the absence of cash inflow to CDA accounts under this major head, the authority’s activities are impacted adversely.

Many small-scale development projects of public importance, which the authority was supposed to initiate with the start of the current financial year under self-financing, have been abandoned presently due to the situation.

Initially, the first auction of residential and commercial plots in the financial year 2014-15 was scheduled to be held on August 23 and 24. The authority had announced this auction in July and planned to present some 50 residential plots, 18 commercial ones and two agricultural farms during the two-day auction, but owing to the sit-ins by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek on August 14, city managers postponed the auction and announced new dates — September 8 and 9.

Later, owing to the presence of protesters in the city and the uncertain situation, the date was extended once again to September 13 and 14. Now, the authority came up with a new date of October 13 and 14, probably hoping that the ongoing political impasse would have settled by then and business could resume.

In its annual budget for the year 2014-15, the authority had announced to generate an enormous Rs35.73 billion from the auction of residential and commercial plots, besides receipts from sector development.

In its budget document, the authority had put forward some projects which it intended to initiate soon after the document’s approval by the authority’s board with a total outlay of Rs45.82 billion.

These projects include the up-gradation of 7th Avenue at an estimated cost of Rs500 million, development of car parking areas in the capital at a cost of Rs350 million, construction of two underpasses on Faisal Avenue in sectors G-7/G-8 and sectors F-7/F-8, construction of semi-covered markets in the city for Rs200 million and Rs100 million for the construction of slaughterhouse in the capital.

Though the authority already flouted tenders in the press for initiation of developmental work on some of the abovementioned projects, due to insufficient funds, the process has already been delayed and there are fears they may take off too late owing to the current political situation in the city.

“We are optimistic that until the newly announced date for auction, the protesters will not be present in the city,” said the CDA spokesperson Asim Khichi. He dispelled the impression that the auction postponement had delayed the execution of the self-financing projects. The projects will be initiated within the announced time period, said Khichi.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2014.