Irregularities in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Colony are on an all-time high as a large number of CAA employees are being deprived of accommodation facility.
Employees of other departments and other irrelevant people are enjoying the housing facility, whereas the CAA is paying Rs 250 million and Rs 8.5 million in electricity and water bills respectively.
The CAA Colony has 720 bungalows and quarters for accommodation of its employees. These bungalows, which are classified in categories from A to H, are allocated under the CAA Services Group.
During a survey of the CAA Colony, its employees told this scribe that 30 percent of the houses in the colony have been allotted to irrelevant officers who are not employed by the CAA. The irrelevant authorities include the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Airport Security Force (ASF).
On the other hand, a large number of employees who have been allotted houses in their name have rented out their houses to irrelevant people, whereas some have made partitions in their houses and rented out portions of their house.
People are interested in residing in this colony because the CAA is exempted from electricity load shedding. Pakistan Today was informed that electricity and water is supplied to the colony residents for free, whereas the CAA pays Rs 250 million in electricity and Rs 8.5 million in water bills every month.
According to sources, the reason for allotting houses to people who are not employed by the CAA is because the colony is close to the airport, which is why lodging was provided to FIA, PIA and ASF personnel as they could reach on duty easily.
It is interesting that employees of other authorities are accommodated in the CAA Colony, whereas its own employees are living far from the airport in rented houses. Sources said that over a thousand applications of CAA employees for lodgings are pending currently.
“These allegations are baseless. No house in the CAA Colony has been allotted to outsiders. The situation is not as bad as mentioned,” said CAA State Officer Bashir Ahmed Sheikh.
However, the employees of the CAA are unhappy with the policy of house allotment in the colony. People from other parts of the city also try to rent houses in the CAA Colony because it is exempted from electricity load shedding.
