ISLAMABAD: Controversial transfers and postings are taking place in the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI).

The CDA has transferred Director Housing Societies Ijaz Ahmed Sheikh. He was replaced with Director Urban Planning Faraz Malik, who spent most of his 15-year service in the directorate of the housing societies.

Mr Sheikh was posted to the housing societies’ directorate in August last year when the CDA management announced to shuffle all those officers who had spent more than three years on same posts. However, within four months, Mr Sheikh was sent back to his previous seat.

Policy of removing officials working on same posts for more than three years not being followed, sources say

Interestingly, the CDA management’s policy of reshuffling officials completing three years posting also seems to be halted as currently a large number of officers are enjoying their posting on same posts for years (in some cases with a break of few months).

Sources said during his few months’ stint, Mr Sheikh issued recovery notices to around a dozen operators of housing schemes asking them to deposit around Rs1.2 billion in the CDA accounts.

However, CDA spokesperson Syed Safdar Ali told Dawn that there was no pressure on the authority to change the director housing societies.

“It’s purely a routine transfer and posting,” he said.

Meanwhile, directors and deputy directors of the engineering wing of the CDA have been waiting for their promotions.At present, a grade 19 contractual employee of the National Highway Authority (NHA) is holding the post of the member engineering, which is a grade 20 post. He is also supervising CDA’s officers who are senior to him. Currently, the engineering wing has four grade 20 officers.

However, Member Engineering Hafiz Dr Ahmad Bakhsh defended his posting and said he was appointed by the federal government.

Director Master Plan Zafar Iqbal Zafar has also been given the additional charge of director staff to the member planning.

In a related development, the MCI asked a grade-20 officer, Dr Shahid Mehmood, that his posting was illegal. Through a letter, Chief Metropolitan Officer (CMO) Syed Najaf Iqbal informed Mr Mehmood that his posting to the MCI as the director general of the water management wing on Nov 8 had no legal standing.

The letter said the CDA had no authority to post any officer to MCI’s directorate.

“Since your posting order is illegal and void in the eye of law, therefore any action, task, duty performed by you in the MCI is illegal and void of any legal strength,” read the letter.

Any action performed by the DG shall be treated illegal and “you will be responsible for all the consequence arising out of your actions.”

When contacted, Mr Mehmood said he would not leave the charge as he was appointed DG initially by the CDA and then after his promotion from 19 to 20 by the Ministry of Interior. Both the CDA and the MCI work under the interior ministry.

He said the CMO was a junior officer (grade-18) and should not have written such a letter to a grade-20 officer.

But the CMO said he had issued the letter on the directive of the competent authority - the mayor. He said according to rules the CDA can only place the services of any officer at the disposal of the mayor, who at his discretion may make further posting in the MCI.

“The officer in question is respectable but in his posting proper procedure was not followed.”

The directorate of water management was devolved to the MCI after the local government elections 2015.

There is also a dispute over the posting of Malik Atta by the CDA as the director emergency and disaster management of the MCI.

The CMO told Dawn that Mr Atta had been informed that his posting as the director had no legal standing as the MCI had already notified Zafar Iqbal as the director.

There is also a controversy over the posting of secretary CDA board who is originally the additional director emergency and disaster management and was given the additional charge of the secretary board.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2019