Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Local Government Commission has raised objection over a report prepared by its subcommittee and summoned incumbent and former officers of the Directorate of Municipal Administration in its next meeting.
A subcommittee formed by the commission had pointed out embezzlements worth millions of rupees in the Directorate of Municipal Administration of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI).
DMA was once considered as a goldfish of Capital Development Authority (CDA) for incumbents especially officers who remained directors there including the present Deputy Commissioner Islamabad HamzaShafqat, Mansoor Ali Khan, Capitan (Retired) ShahbazTahirNadeem, Ali Sufayan and many others. The said directorate is now devolved to MCI since creation.
The subcommittee is comprised upon its two technocrat members Tayyaba Ibrahim and Syed Muhammad Ali Bokhari and Director General ICT Administration Ali Sufyan. The committee prepared a 17-page report and unearthed the corruption, malpractices and under table settlements—terming it as a ‘mega scam’ and suggested to form a multi-departmental team to conduct a special audit of DMA.
However, when the same report was presented before the commission, Senator MushahidHussain Syed raised objection over secretary of said committee Ali Sufyan by arguing that how he can work impartially when himself remained director DMA in the period which is being investigated.
Sources informed that MNA Raja Pervaiz Ashraf also supported Senator MushahidHussain and said for the transparency of the investigation it was necessary that an impartial person was appointed as secretary of the committee.
The said committee has pointed that in the case of the approvals of BTS towers across the city millions of rupees were misappropriated as there is no proper record available while the laid down procedure was also not followed in this case.
The inquiry committee also scrutinised the advertisement made on the faces of iconic buildings of Islamabad i.e. Centaurus Mall, Safa Gold Mall, Ufone tower, Pakistan Stock Exchange Building and units in Blue Area Islamabad in the last three years.
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The committee in its findings indicated under invoicing, wrong calculation of tax and its evasion and hinted a corruption worth of millions of rupees on monthly basis.
The committee also blamed Mayor of Islamabad Sheikh Anser Aziz for his failure to arrange the Cattle Market in year 2019 through auction and maintained that it sustained a revenue loss of Rs75 million.
In 2019, Mayor of Islamabad had rejected a bid below than the previous years to arrange cattle market in Islamabad as he cannot accept it according to the rules while there was not enough time to go into tendering process again and again, which forced him to allow free cattle market in capital.
However, while deliberating upon the report, the commission was of the view that when no tender was awarded than how we can even try to find out the corruption. They however said that the MCI should ensure the arrangement for cattle market in 2020 according to rules and regulations.
The commission however deliberated upon the report and decided to listen the officers who remained deputed in DMA as well as the investigation officer of the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA). It was decided that all the concerned officers of DMA either incumbents or former would be called in next meeting of the commission.
Meanwhile, the Member Finance CDA briefed about the mode of payment to sanitary workers in future. Chairman of the Commission Ali Nawaz Awan directed to ensure the payment of their salary till July.
The Director Sanitation Sardar Khan Zimri also briefed the commission regarding dumping site and a sanitation tender for collection of garbage from the city.
