ISLAMABAD, Dec 17: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) may have failed to fix choked sewage lines, ensure supply of clean drinking water to the residents and replace the streetlights with light emitting diode (LED) bulbs due to paucity of funds.

However, during the last four years it had always enough money to spend on the renovation of its chairmen’s residences.

The National Assembly on Monday was informed that since 2007-08 the civic agency spent nearly Rs10 million on renovation and repair of the houses occupied by its successive chairmen.

Mohammad Riaz Malik, a PML-N lawmaker from Lahore, had sought the answer to the expenditures from the cabinet division.

According to the written response placed before the house, during 2007-08 the then chairman CDA Kamran Lashari spent Rs0.253 million on his house No 12-A, Street 63, F-7/3, under the head of electrical and mechanical (E&M) work.

His successor Imtiaz Inayat Elahi during the first year of his appointment spent Rs0.41 million and then Rs0.115 million in 2009-10 under the same head.

However, in 2010-11, when the authority was facing serious financial crisis, he got civil works done in his house number 11-I, Street F-6/3, at a cost of Rs3.304 million.

Farkhand Iqbal, who took over the charge of the CDA after Mr Elahi, spent Rs4.3 million on the renovation and repair of his house No 123-H, Street 10, F-6/3. According to the reply, Mr Iqbal spent Rs3.304 million on civil and Rs1.014 on the E&M works.

Talking to Dawn, a senior CDA official said under the head of renovation it was up to the chairman whether he wanted to replace furniture, curtains etc., of his house To a question, the official said every time a new chairman was appointed, he was briefed about his perks and privileges, including the unlimited amount of funds available for the renovation of his residence.In reply to another question about the CDA, the National Assembly was told that the daft PC-I cost of the LED streetlight project was Rs6.524 billion. However, the PC-I was withdrawn from the Planning Commission by the CDA on January 30 this year on the pretext that since the funding facility for the project under Energy Efficiency Investment Programme of the ADB had lapsed the civic agency would explore other avenues, including the deferred payment.

It further said the Islamabad High Court had also issued restraining orders on a writ petition due to which the project had been kept pending.

Under the project, about 65,000 conventional streetlights were to be replaced with the LED lights all over Islamabad.