16 April 2005	Saturday	06 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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ISLAMABAD, April 15: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has started reviewing applications of the people affected by the Islamabad New City (INC) scam with a view to reimbursing their money, it has been learnt.

The bureau received hundreds of applications for refund of money after it published advertisement in the press last month, asking INC-affected people to send their particulars to its regional office, Rawalpindi.

The new city project planned for Zone-V of the capital was a joint mega housing scheme of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the NHA. The project was launched in 1995, and millions of rupees paid by the people were embezzled. The affected people have been waiting for refund since 1995.

Subsequently, a case was filed with an accountability court in Lahore, which later declared Zahid Shafiq, a director in the National Housing Authority (NHA) and a co-accused, a proclaimed offender.

The case was transferred from the Lahore accountability court to the Rawalpindi accountability court after NAB requested the Lahore High Court to transfer the case since the co-accused and witnesses belonged to Islamabad.

The case remained pending with Ehtesab Bench till the dismissal of the PML-N government in October, 1999.

A source in the housing ministry told Dawn that the ministry had backed out of its promise made with the affected people regarding reimbursement of their money deposited with the NHA.

The source said, earlier, the ministry had admitted that an amount of Rs300 million deposited with the NHA by the people desirous of getting plots in the scheme had been misappropriated by the officials of the authority.

The amount was reportedly deposited by some 3,000 people, mostly retired government employees, the source said.

He said the project had two phases — one was dealt by the NHA and the second by the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

An amount of Rs162 million had been deposited in the second phase, while Rs300 million was deposited with the NHA in the first phase. The money deposited with the CDA had been reimbursed, however, the NHA has no answer as to where the amount has been utilized, the source said.

The total number of applicants in both phases of the project is stated to be over 5,000.