ISLAMABAD: City managers have long been projecting the Capital Development Authority as `cash-strapped` but is that the reality? Federal auditors, who went through its 2012-13 accounts, found that the CDA gave priority to non-development activities over development activities. It underspent its development funds by 54 per cent and over spent by 137.4 per cent on its non-development activities.

`In other words, expenditure on non-development activities was incurred at the cost of development expenditure, they said in their report released recently by the Auditor General of Pakistan.

In maintaining its accounts, the civic body followed neither its own rules nor those of the New Accounting Model set by the federal government. It did not even submit its budget for the financial 2012-13 to the federal government for approval, said the report which carries 43 paras on the lapses and performance of the CDA establishment.

But the auditors` objections and court`s directives failed to rectify irregularities.

Though the Director of Municipal Administration of CDA cancelled all temporary licences issued for establishing and running tea stalls, tuck shops, kiosks, counter cabin, snack bars etc., in Islamabad, they were not removed on the plea that the Khokha (kiosks) Association was agitating against the action.

`This resulted in the non-clearance of CDA land on cancellation of licences,` said the report.

The auditors detected an amount of Rs19.2 billion tainted with fraud and misappropriations. And ineffective property management caused land grabbers occupy 122 kanals in the Margalla Hills National Park.

They even built roads and buildings with the CDA taking no notice.

They hinted at CDA`s careless approach to revenue collection and generation. They noted a shortfall of Rs16.32 billion against the estimated receipts of Rs29.56 billion.

`CDA could generate only Rs13.23 billion in revenue, 45 percent less than its estimate,` said the audit report submitted to the National Assembly. `This indicates that the estimates of receipts were both overambitious and unrealistic or the CDA failed to exploit and derive benefits from the available resources.

Therefore, the Auditor General suggested that CDA should improve and rationalise its mechanism of estimation and realisation of revenues.

Similarly, there have been objections by the auditors that the CDA failed to utilise its development funds too, but the civic body made excessive expenditure on non-development activities-