Chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Chief Commissioner of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Muhammad Ali Randhawa and Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon faced on Wednesday questions by the Members of the National Assembly standing committee on Interior over the persistent failure to award Built-up Properties (BuP) claims to the landowners in the newly developed or under-developed sectors.
The CDA chairman and the DC Islamabad appeared before the committee in a calling attention notice over BuP and other issues related to uplift of the federal capital.
Chaired by MNA Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, the standing committee meeting expressed concerns over the delay in awards of the BuP claims and compensation. The award already announced by the CDA Chief without consulting the local MNAs of the federal capital also came up during the meeting.
Chairman of the CDA Mr Muhammad Ali Randhawa assured the members that all the concerns raised by the landowners as well as the MPs would be addressed. “We shall invite again all those who were absent in the previous meeting so that the matter could be resolved at the earliest and according to law,” said the CDA Chairman.
Anjum Aqeel Khan, MNA informed the meeting that he along with the affectees had held a meeting with the Chairman of the CDA a day earlier and another was scheduled for Thursday (today) but strangely the BuP award has already been announced.
Chairman of the committee asked the CDA chief how the Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad could announce Kurri Model Village BuP awards and why he (CDA Chairman) didn’t stop the DC from doing so.
Anjum Aqeel Khan demanded withdrawing of that or any other award announced without bringing it to the notice of the local public representatives. CDA Chairman made it clear that there would be zero tolerance for land mafia. The CDA would get help from the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) to identify the built-up property that existed when the land award was announced, he said.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Sharmeela Farooqi pointed out the unlivable conditions of the Parliament Lodges. The CDA should raise the living standards of these lodges as they are not secure for women members of the Parliament. Even our male colleagues don’t feel the conditions ideal for peaceful living there, she remarked. On CDA chairman’s plan for renovation of the Parliament Lodges, Sharmeela Farooqi said the civic agency should at least introduce a proper cleanliness mechanism instead of talking about renovation. In the Parliament Lodges, I am nervous to see irrelevant individuals and unknown people living there, she claimed.
