ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: Recent pre-qualification of commercial plot sales, regarding extension of Blue Area, is seen by many officials within the Capital Development Authority (CDA) as a shady move to benefit the mighty and powerful purchasers, Dawn has learnt.

The civic authority has received bids which are not many. The plots which are to be auctioned are 12 and 11 buyers have submitted their documents.

“With 12 plots and 11 buyers as per initial documentation, the sale of plots through pre-qualification means that CDA will likely fetch less price for commercial plots and will benefit the powerful,” said one official close to the developments.

“The lack of open auctions has put many buyers out of the selling process of these commercial plots,” said a senior official of the authority.

According to an advertisement given by the authority on July 20, the CDA decided to sell 12 plots each measuring up to 1333.33 square yards located in F-9 and G-9.

The official remarked that had there been an open auction of plots there could be more competitive bidding.

“The number of bidders in open auction could be much higher than the pre-qualification bid process of commercial plots,” added one estate management wing official.

The official said: “Once the authority shortlists any bidder through pre-qualification it is not clear whether the CDA’s committee has followed transparent selection processes for such bidders.”

“The committee can disqualify any bidder or select any one on its own, so the process has lacunas which discourage competitive bidding process and often sends a negative message to investors,” asserted the official.

With pre-qualification bidding not helpful for the authority, at one such instance the authority rejected a pre-qualification bid of Margalla Towers in June this year.

The buyer forwarded a bid of Rs1.35 billion to purchase the plot but the CDA rejected the bid, since the civic authority had paid Rs1.75 billion as compensation to the affected victims of the residential tower as the property was damaged during October 8, 2005 earthquake.

However, CDA has been auctioning commercial plots only in main markaz (business centres) of residential sectors, through open auction since the auction is open for all.

The open auction process reflects healthy competition and has more financial transparency, since it is open to the public.

“But sale of commercial plots in Blue Area is again being done through pre-qualification, since the criteria of selection of these 11 bidders is not clear and is known to only few officials of the CDA,” said a source working for the Estate wing of the civic agency.

“These 11 bidders are finalised with the help of an evaluation committee but information on the selection of successful bidders remained a mystery,” insisted a source.

“The pre-qualification process only helps the mighty tycoons, powerful businessmen and builders since they are always well connected and can manage their bid processes without exposing themselves to any scandals,” remarked the source.

However, when approached the newly appointed spokesman of the CDA Masoodur Rehman claimed: “It’s just a proposal and the pre-qualification bids could be rejected by the CDA board, besides large commercial plots pre-qualification is routine process.”

“The pre-qualification sale of commercial plots is long been a practice at the CDA and there is nothing shady in it,” observed the spokesman.

Asked that CDA has given an advertisement for pre-qualification of commercial plots sale, he insisted: “Even then the board has all the right to accept or reject any proposal and if the CDA management feels that the process may not fetch us a good amount of money, the management can reject all the bids.”

He said that the number of bidders never matter in pre-qualification, instead “we always look for potential bidders.”

The spokesman maintained that in pre-qualification bids the authority is interested in strong bidders having sound financial strength.

“The financial strength to purchase any commercial plot at an important business location and strong technical capacity of the institution are few important aspects for the pre-qualified bidders,” said the CDA media wing official.

“Once the pre-qualification bidders are finalised, an auction is managed by the authority among the pre-qualified bidders, where they compete for a plot or any commercial land,” informed the official.

Explaining the process of bidding Mr Rehman insisted: “Pre-qualification bid process is all legal and as per government rules we are not doing anything outside the defined laws for sale of commercial plots in Blue Area.”

“The bids are not final, whatever the number of bidders are because CDA’s senior management has given the task of evaluating every bid to an evaluation committee, which will forward the final bidders list to the management for further auction process,” added the spokesman for the authority.

The official claimed that in pre-qualified bidding, any individual can participate “if he or she is serious to purchase a commercial plot since the pre-qualification bidding process is not that tough.”