ISLAMABAD: A new corruption scandal has been uncovered in the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in which CDA’s finance wing has been accused of making duplicate payments to landowners in Sectors I-17 and H-16.
The payments were allegedly made against the land that was acquired by the CDA for development over a decade ago.
As per the details, CDA paid Rs 840,000 for each kanal of land acquired in 2008-09, and around 65% of payments have been made to affected landowners so far. However, officials have discovered that some landowners were paid twice for the same land, causing significant losses to the national exchequer.
A senior official in the finance wing confirmed that there were “issues of double payments in many cases,” and that a special audit of all payments made by CDA in the two sectors would be conducted.
Member Finance Mazhar Hussain Shah has directed the finance wing to take steps for the audit and hold accountable all employees involved in the alleged scam.
The audit is expected to begin soon, and there are also unverified allegations that some landowners were paid three times.
Member Estate Afnan Alam had previously brought the irregular payments to the attention of the finance wing through a letter dated February 27.
The letter called for a full inspection and audit of the land compensation payments in Sectors H-16 and I-17, stating that the complaints raised by affected persons amounted to a pattern of mismanagement and fraud.
It also requested the finance wing to determine whether payments were made to actual affectees and whether the necessary records were available for verification.
In response to the scandal, the CDA management is considering ending the role of middlemen in the disbursement of payments and planning to pay affectees directly into their bank accounts.
Most of the remaining affectees are reportedly not interested in collecting the compensation amount, as they feel that Rs 840,000 for one kanal of land was insufficient.
CDA is expected to make a decision in the coming days regarding the role of middlemen in payments.
