Issuing final warning to Sindh Revenue Department (SRD) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Friday, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) directed both the organisations to resolve 24 years old land dispute by May 21, otherwise the panel will take necessary action. The directives were passed by a subcommittee of the PAC, which met here under the chairpersonship of Shahida Akhtar Ali, to SRD and CAA officials while discussing and reviewing the audit paras of CAA.
The officials of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) informed the panel that as a result of not handing over the 2.2 acres of land to Sindh Building Control Authority by CAA, Rs 5.48 billion financial losses incurred to Sindh province. The officials informed the panel that despite directions of the PAC to the CAA, the land was not returned to the government of Sindh in Karachi. The officials said that in 2008 a committee was constituted to settle the land dispute between Sindh Building Control Authority and the CAA by demarcation of the land and CAA handed over 2.2 acres of land to the Sindh government. The officials of CAA told the panel that the 2.2 acres of land returned to the provincial government was not the property of the CAA, therefore the authority agreed to hand over the land to the Sindh government.
The officials of the Sindh Revenue Department said that title documents were in the name of Sindh government. The committee has already directed the Sindh Revenue Department for demarcation of the disputed land within a week and submit the report with the panel so that the panel can settle it.
The meeting was informed that over the past 6 years, the PAC and its subcommittees time and again directed the CAA to hand over the land to Sindh government but the authority didn't vacate land.
The committee directed the authorities to provide the names of the officials involved in the matter of not settling the land dispute and other details to the panel, saying that the panel has given many chances to the CAA and Sindh government to resolve the issue themselves, but both the departments failed in complying with the PAC directives.
The PAC has already rejected the suggestion of audit officials of referring the matter to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for an inquiry. The panel directed the concerned officials to implement PAC directives.
The APG officials told the panel that since 1995 the authorities have carried out demarcation of land many times but every time a new dispute emerged.
Responding to the audit objections, the officials of the CAA said that during the boundary setting process of disputed land, the concerned department of Sindh government told the CAA that the land under discussion was not the property of the Sindh Building Control Authority. The CAA officials further said that the two pieces of land situated in district Malir were handed over to the Sindh government.
The AGP officials objected to the response of the CAA and said that in 2013 the authority said that it was going to probe the subject. After that it was also decided a detailed report of the matter will be issued but as yet nothing has happened.