ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to use 60 flats in G-11/3 as official accommodation for its officers, after it addressed a decade-old dispute with the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA).

CDA spokesperson Safdar Shah told Dawn the decision has two benefits.

“The first one is that the flats and land will become an asset of the authority and its value will increase with the passage of time. The second is that we spend a huge amount on hiring accommodation for officers, so that amount will be saved,” he said.

“We have also taken up the matter of 36 flats that have been sold by the FGEHA for reconciliation, and we hope that we will receive that hefty sum,” he added.

The CDA awarded a contract to build 96 flats in G-11/3 almost a decade ago, but construction was delayed for various reasons, Mr Shah said.

The civic authority has addressed a decade-old dispute with FGEHA regarding 96 flats in G-11/3

“There were also some financial disputes that could not be addressed by former managements of the CDA. In October last year, we learnt that the flats had been completed so it was decided to clear the dues of the FGEHA. However, we came to know that 36 of the 96 flats were already sold by the FGEHA. We cleared all the dues and got possession of 60 flats,” he said.

“Although there was a proposal a decade ago that the flats would be sold to earn financial benefits, currently the CDA is financially very strong. We have more than Rs12 billion in different accounts, so we have decided to retain those apartments rather than sell them in the market,” he said.

The flats will be used for official accommodation for employees from grades 15 to 17.

“Not only will the value of the apartments increase with time, but as it is a complete block of apartments the land also belongs to the CDA and can be used by us in the future,” he said.

He said the CDA spends significantly in terms of accommodation rented by employees.

Mr Shah said: “As far as the 36 flats are concerned, we have taken up the issue with the FGEHA and hopefully we will receive a hefty amount of money.”

According to a statement released by the CDA, 96 flats were built in G-11/3 by the FGEHA, of which 36 were sold and the remaining 60 were taken over by the CDA.

“Since last two or more decade no official accommodations have been constructed to facilitate CDA employees. Similarly, employees are unable to meet the higher price of private rented accommodation on account of their financial worries. In order to meet the acute shortage of official accommodation, the incumbent management of the authority has decided to enter these flats to CDA officers as official accommodation as per their entitlement/category on the basis of general waiting list,” it states.

This matter was pending for years because of a lack of consensus between the CDA and FGEHA on various issues. A series of meetings were held between the CDA chairman and FGEHA director general under the incumbent management, as a result of which a consensus was reached and possession of the flats was taken over by the CDA, the statement said.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2020