Land compensation: ‘Middle men’ continue to rule the roost at CDA
Authority continues to buy land without having funds to compensate landowners
Authority continues to buy land without having funds to compensate landowners.
ISLAMABAD:
The worst affected people of the development of the capital in 1960s are locals of Islamabad who, despite the passage of decades, still await handing over of their ancestral land acquired by the city’s civic agency.
Whenever the Capital Development Authority (CDA) announces a residential sector, it promises a certain compensation amount --- cash, compensation or residential plots --- to those locals who are the original landowners.
Delay in award of sufficient compensation is something the local can tolerate, but when after decades of waiting the authority releases the compensation amount to some, corrupt CDA officials come into play in order to receive kickbacks for ‘smooth transactions’ between the landowners and the authority.
At present, CDA owes an estimated Rs44 billion in terms of cash compensation to affected persons against their land across the city.
A recent example
The anti-corruption cell of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) last week busted a gang of CDA’s land wing officials including a director-general of the estate management wing, Nadeem Ahmad Abro, for their involvement in receipt of kickbacks from affected locals of sectors H-16 and I-17 prior to release of cash compensation.
Some low-grade officials were caught red-handed from the CDA’s premises while receiving marked currency notes from a landowner. Moreover, a real estate dealer was caught from Sector F-8 from whom cheques were recovered in the name of landowners.
According to sources in the FIA, the agency tracked down a record of bank transactions and telephonic conversations between the dealer and Abro.
Abro, who went missing from the scene before the crackdown, later managed to obtain a pre-arrest bail from a local court.
FIA has also registered an FIR of the incident nominating some seven officials including the estate management DG.
The CDA management later made Abro an officer on special duty. The official could not be contacted for his comments as his phone numbers were switched off.
Earlier, the CDA started payment of compensation amounting to Rs500 million to small landowners of some sectors following a ruling of the Islamabad High Court. So far, the authority has released Rs200 million out of earmarked amount.
“The CDA has started investigations into the case. An inquiry has been called into the scam,” said CDA spokesperson Asim Khichi.
Khichi added the CDA would continue payment of cash compensation as promised by the authority. However, he said, it has been decided that rest of compensation amount would be given to locals in the presence of local elders so chances of involvement of middle or front men be lessened while making such transactions.
A senior official of the authority, wishing not to be named, said during the past decade, former managements of the authority announced to acquire huge chunk of the capital’s land contrary to the fact that the CDA did not have resources to compensate affected locals.
“It further complicated the already decades-old issue,” the official said. He explained that with every passing year, the number of affected persons increase as a family grows and then they ask for more compensation on the basis of their extended families.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2014.
The worst affected people of the development of the capital in 1960s are locals of Islamabad who, despite the passage of decades, still await handing over of their ancestral land acquired by the city’s civic agency.
Whenever the Capital Development Authority (CDA) announces a residential sector, it promises a certain compensation amount --- cash, compensation or residential plots --- to those locals who are the original landowners.
Delay in award of sufficient compensation is something the local can tolerate, but when after decades of waiting the authority releases the compensation amount to some, corrupt CDA officials come into play in order to receive kickbacks for ‘smooth transactions’ between the landowners and the authority.
At present, CDA owes an estimated Rs44 billion in terms of cash compensation to affected persons against their land across the city.
A recent example
The anti-corruption cell of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) last week busted a gang of CDA’s land wing officials including a director-general of the estate management wing, Nadeem Ahmad Abro, for their involvement in receipt of kickbacks from affected locals of sectors H-16 and I-17 prior to release of cash compensation.
Some low-grade officials were caught red-handed from the CDA’s premises while receiving marked currency notes from a landowner. Moreover, a real estate dealer was caught from Sector F-8 from whom cheques were recovered in the name of landowners.
According to sources in the FIA, the agency tracked down a record of bank transactions and telephonic conversations between the dealer and Abro.
Abro, who went missing from the scene before the crackdown, later managed to obtain a pre-arrest bail from a local court.
FIA has also registered an FIR of the incident nominating some seven officials including the estate management DG.
The CDA management later made Abro an officer on special duty. The official could not be contacted for his comments as his phone numbers were switched off.
Earlier, the CDA started payment of compensation amounting to Rs500 million to small landowners of some sectors following a ruling of the Islamabad High Court. So far, the authority has released Rs200 million out of earmarked amount.
“The CDA has started investigations into the case. An inquiry has been called into the scam,” said CDA spokesperson Asim Khichi.
Khichi added the CDA would continue payment of cash compensation as promised by the authority. However, he said, it has been decided that rest of compensation amount would be given to locals in the presence of local elders so chances of involvement of middle or front men be lessened while making such transactions.
A senior official of the authority, wishing not to be named, said during the past decade, former managements of the authority announced to acquire huge chunk of the capital’s land contrary to the fact that the CDA did not have resources to compensate affected locals.
“It further complicated the already decades-old issue,” the official said. He explained that with every passing year, the number of affected persons increase as a family grows and then they ask for more compensation on the basis of their extended families.
The official said an inquiry must be carried out into the circumstances which led former managements to announce awards to locals when the CDA was incapacitated in terms of financial health to pay the pledged compensation.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2014.