Ombudsman takes notice of Park Enclave, other CDA failures

ISLAMABAD: Federal Ombudsman has also taken notice of failure of Capital Development Authority (CDA) in implementing his findings over providing relief to the victims of Park Enclave scam and slow or non-development of other schemes.

After NAB took notice of the Park Enclave scam, CDA through a media campaign tried to give an impression to the general public that 94 percent work on Park Enclave has been completed and only a few dozen allotees who paid for the land in 2011 were not allotted plots. As a matter of fact, this was simply an attempt to mislead NAB investigators as 94 percent (in fact around 90 percent) figure is only for the Phase-I of Park Enclave while land for the next two phases especially Phase-II didn’t even exist and 100 percent people who paid money were defrauded. Overall CDA could deliver only 28 percent or 29 percent and failed to deliver to some 62 percent citizens. Phase-I was announced in 2011 at a time when the CDA didn’t have possession of land required to create plots which it was announcing to cell and until now many citizens who paid in 2011 couldn’t get plots in last eight years. CDA even got possession of land for the Phase-I after media repeatedly reported the scandal. Also 94 percent figure as claimed by the CDA is regarding possession of land for the Phase-I and rest of the developmental work, except construction of a few roads, is yet to be done even for this initial phase. Phase-II is only in papers and is a complete deception to make money.

A press note of Federal Ombudsman issued on Friday reads; “Taking cognizance of the slow progress on implementation of his findings/recommendations by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), Islamabad, the Wafaqi Mohtasib has called a meeting on October 26, 2018 at 1000 hours in his office wherein the Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Works, CDA chairman, Senior Members of the CDA, Chief Officer, Municipal Corporation, Islamabad and senior officers of the Wafaqi Mohtasib Secretariat including the Secretary and Senior Adviser (Implementation) as well as Director General, Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation and MD PHA Foundation have been advised to participate. The meeting will review the progress on implementation of the findings/recommendations of the Wafaqi Mohtasib pertaining to slow or non-development and/or failure in handing over possession of plots to the allottees of Pak Enclave Project, Sectors E-12, I-15, G-13, G-14/1,2,3, Bhara Kahu Phase-1 & II, FGEHF's projects at Karachi, PHA Foundation Project at Islamabad, Model Village, Kurri Road and non-provision of civic amenities & maintenance of official accommodations in G-13 and other developed sectors of Islamabad. The meeting will also thrash out other issues related to CDA in the context of public grievances against the Agency.”

On August 29, 2018 Federal Ombudsman Syed Tahir Shahbaz after hearing the complaints of Park Enclave affected people had directed the CDA chairman to take disciplinary action against the officials for delay in the acquisition of land for this project. The Federal Ombudsman had also directed CDA to complete the land acquisition process and start development work of Pak Enclave within a month so the allottees waiting for the possession of plots since last seven years should be handed over their plots. This order of the Ombudsman, however, fell on deaf ears of the authority.

The previous governments of PPP and PML-N showed no interest to clear the Park Enclave. The Federal Ombudsman Secretariat after almost seven hearings had concluded the matter and issued the judgement. “The facts and circumstances as elicited from the record available and file certainly make it clear without any iota of doubt that the Agency has failed to lend proper map and form to the project of phase-I extension and Phase-II as a whole,” declared the Ombudsman judgement.