ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee on Tuesday came down hard on Chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA) Maroof Afzal over the authority`s failure in stopping corruption as well as the construction ofillegalbuildings andland grabbing.

The members of the National Assembly standing committee on cabinet secretariat at a meeting with Rana Mohammad Hayat Khan in the chair said land grabbing and illegal constructions continued in connivance with the CDA officials.

Discussing the award of a plot for the under-construction five-star Grand Hayat Hotel, the committee directed the civic agency to rescind the illegal agreement with the developer and fix responsibility against the officials for the award.

The committee members said the national exchequer had faced a substantial loss due to the CDA Board`s undue concessions to the land developer.

In 2005, the CDA leased out the 13.5 acres adjacent to Jinnah Convention Centre to a private firm for 99 years against Rs4.882 billion. The developer was required to make only 15 per cent down payment and the 85 per cent was to be paid in yearly installments in 15 years. The payment period was later extended to 2026. Currently, the case is being investigated by the FIA and NAB.

The committee also discussed the construction of illegal buildings in sectors G-11, F-12 and Nust and said the CDA had failed to stop the encroachments and illegal constructions.

Member planning CDA Waseem Ahmed Khan told the committee that the civic agency had warned the citizens and also written a letter to the FIA against the illegal constructions and encroachments.

However, Director FIA Islamabad zone Inam Ghani said no letter had been sent to the agency. On this, the committee members asked the member planning why the CDA was not initiating an operation against the illegal multi-storey buildings in the sectors.

`Instead of taking action against the illegal constructions, you are saying that a letter has been written to the FIA, which has no mandate to stop the illegal constructions,` said the chairman of the committee. `It seems you are supporting the encroachers.

The CDA official, however, explained that in many cases the encroachers had taken stay orders from courts.

MNA Syed Javid Ali Shah said the CDA officers were trying to show that judges were supporting the encroachers.

`Yesterday, we conducted various anti-encroachment operations,` said the CDA chief. But the committee chairman said the CDA takes action only when it was not given bribe. `There is no operation against those who pay [bribe], he remarked.

The committee also asked the CDA chairman why the civic agency had been sitting on inquires of embezzlement.

Currently, the civic agency is holding 92 departmental inquiries against its officials while 37 cases are under investigation by the FIA and 16 by NAB.

The chairman CDA told the committee that the departmental inquiries in a number of cases were almost at the final stages and strict action would be taken against the guilty officials.