ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has sent a case against a private housing society to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for action.

The decision was taken in NAB’s executive board meeting held on Wednesday.

“NAB has decided to send the case against the management of Multi-Professional Cooperative Housing Society and a CDA official for purchasing land in Sarai Kharboza at exorbitant rates to the CDA for action under the authority’s laws,” said an official press release issued by the NAB headquarters.

In the case, MPCHS and CDA had made a joint venture under public-private partnership basis in 2009 for acquisition of land from locals of E-11 and developing it for housing and commercial plots. The land of 54 acres called Northern Strip of E-11.

Under the project the society acquired the land from the local land owners and developed it into a strip carrying cluster of commercial and residential plots. Later, the developed Northern Strip was handed over to the CDA in 2010.

The project has been completed despite the fact that it was made controversial by some quarters that forced the Supreme Court to take a suo motu notice.

Although the apex court took a notice over alleged irregularities in the project, it did not order to stop the development work on it.

Later, NAB took up the issue and after keeping the matter with it, referred it to the CDA.

The stretch of 54 acres in northern side of E-11 is being developed under a first public-private partnership basis by the CDA and the cooperative housing society to turn it into a new commercial area on the pattern of Blue Area.

Under the agreement, the housing society got vacated CDA’s 54 acres located in northern side of Islamabad between Sector E-11 and Margalla Hills from encroachers and reportedly paid over Rs1 billion in the shape of compensation and borne Rs190 million as development cost.

Later, the Supreme Court was apprised that it was a wrong impression that the cooperative housing scheme had taken some benefits.

In response to a petition the counsel for the society said the fact was that not a single inch of land had so far been sold or transferred in the name of the cooperatives society, although it had spent over Rs1 billion for acquisition of land and laying of infrastructure facilities in the Northern Strip.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2019