ISLAMABAD: The dispute between the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) over the distribution of assets and properties of the former to the latter may continue, as on Friday top bureaucrats were unable to resolve the issue. A new committee on the matter has been constituted.

Noticing a growing tussle between the CDA and the MCI, their parent ministries (the Capital Administration and Development Division, and the Interior Ministry, respectively) jumped into the fray. A high-profile meeting was held on Friday at the Interior Ministry, chaired by Secretary Interior Yousaf Naseem Khokhar and Secretary CADD Saqib Aziz.

The matter remained unresolved during the meeting and a new committee, to be chaired by the additional secretary of the Interior Ministry and comprised of the joint secretary Interior, joint secretary CADD, chairman CDA, mayor MCI, the chief officer of the MCI, and the deputy commissioner of Islamabad, has been formed.

New high-profile committee constituted to look into the division of assets

The meeting’s notification said that the committee will discuss the issue raised by the chairman CDA regarding the distribution of directorates and the division of assets between the civic authority and the MCI.

“The CDA and the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration will remain focused on the points of disagreement, enabling the committee to finalise its report and submit recommendations within 14 days,” reads the notification.

Sources said that during the Friday meeting, Chairman CDA Ishrat Ali pleaded that decisions and subsequent notifications regarding the transfer of assets and properties were issued in haste, as all stakeholders were not taken on board. According to the sources, the CDA chairman argued that an Interior Ministry notification, issued last month regarding the shifting of 71 assets and properties, should be withdrawn and entire procedure reviewed. Mr Ali said the assets had been built up by his agency over the years through its own resources.

The sources quoted the CDA chairman as claiming that the list of assets to be transferred, on the basis of which the Interior Ministry last month notified the properties, was prepared in haste. Mr Ali told the meeting that in its last meeting the CDA board had opposed the procedure of transfer while the civic authority’s employees were also against the move. The chairman added that he was not opposing the transfer of assets, sources said, but the procedure.

Chief Metropolitan Officer of the MCI Syed Najaf Iqbal defended the Interior Ministry’s decision, saying the exercise had been conducted with the consent of all relevant stakeholders, including CADD and former chairman CDA. Opposing Mr Ali’s proposal of de-notification, Mr Iqbal said this would take more time – the matter remains undecided over two years after the formation of the MCI. On July 16, the Interior Ministry had notified 71 CDA properties that were to be used and supervised by the MCI. These properties include the authority’s G-6 building that houses the mayor’s office, the F-9 Park, the F-9 Citizen’s Club, the Ladies Club, the Shakarparian picnic area and Lake View Park, as well as vehicles and other assets.

Besides the chief commissioner Islamabad and the deputy commissioner, Friday’s meeting was attended by PML-N deputy mayor Syed Zeeshan Naqvi and MCI opposition leader Ali Awan of the PTI. These local government representatives said that the MCI, formed in 2016 in the wake of local government elections held in November 2015, remains non-functional as it has no funding, resources, or rules and regulations. They said instead of cancelling the previous notifications, a committee should be formed to look into the issue. “Because of the tussle between the CDA and the MCI, residents have been suffering,” said Mr Awan.

Speaking to Dawn, Mr Awan said that during the meeting he pleaded that the matter should be resolved and there should be no politics. “The assets and properties should be given to the MCI in accordance with the local government act and CDA should run its affairs as per the 1960 ordinance,” he said. “There should be no discrimination.”

Forty-nine directorates were devolved to the MCI (23 fully and 26 partially) after the local government was formed while the services of around 10,000 CDA employees were put under temporary administrative control of the MCI (though CDA continues to pay their salaries).

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2018