The management of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), an autonomous body responsible for the renovation, beautification and maintenance of the federal capital and the state buildings, seems reluctant to put its own house in order as its directorates, located in posh areas, are now fast turning into ruins.
The CDA is supposed to look after the city’s matters including cleanliness issues, land sharing issues, maintenance and development works. But after visiting its own directorates, one can easily observe how much the body is bothered about its responsibilities.
CDA directorates present in the old naval complex building, situated near Melody Food Park, are one of the examples of the CDA’s negligence towards the maintenance of its own buildings. The said building is in a dilapidated condition and needs the immediate attention of its so-called custodians.
The building comprises of the offices of the Services Director General, the General Works Deputy Director, Directorate of Works, Directorate of Maintenance, Directorate of Water Supply, Directorate Audits & Accounts, Directorate of Water Management, Directorate of Roads, Branch Audits and Directorate Bari Imam Complex.
Employees serving in the building in these directorates are also facing a plethora of problems. “Our high-ups are paying no attention to our plight,” said Saqib Nazir, an employee serving in the water management directorate.
The employees said that it was a great injustice with them that the employees working in the chairman’s office have been provided a number of facilities while the authority has totally ignored them. “This discriminatory attitude should end and the authority should also upgrade our directorates or shift us to the new building,” said Hamid Raza, another employee.
During the visit of the buildings, it was observed that for the last couple of months no one has taken the initiative to plant even a single sapling while the entrance and parking area of the building is covered with wild weeds.
Interestingly, the inside area of the building looks more like that of campaign offices of political parties than that of the CDA. “Whenever the unions of the authority start any campaign, they cover all the walls with their pictures and pamphlets,” said Nazir Ahmad, an official. He said that in every office, union members had portrayed large pictures and pamphlets of the unions with which they were affiliated.
Besides the lethargic attitude of the CDA high-ups, lack of funds is also considered as one of the biggest reasons for the bad condition of its directorates. Talking to Pakistan Today, a senior official of the CDA said that after the year 2000, the country’s spy agency had taken over some areas of the CDA building in G/7 after which several directorates were shifted to different locations of which many were now located in the old naval complex building. “As this building is not the property of the CDA, so the Authority is reluctant to invest even a penny on it,” said the official, who wished not to be named. He informed that the indoor condition of the offices of high-ranking officials was not as bad but the external premises were in a very poor condition.
However, instead of just renovating the chairman’s office, the CDA should also focus on its other buildings, he said.
