I always heave a sigh of relief when I enter Islamabad after coming from another town of Pakistan. The city is definitely cleaner and less polluted than the rest of Pakistan; and the roads are broader. However, before giving CDA any credit for this miracle, we should keep in mind that CDA spends about a thousand percent more on the construction and upkeep of this capital city (population approx. 1 million) than any other city in the country, including Karachi (which has a population 15 million). CDA is one of the most corrupt organizations in the country and it is not out of sheer devotion to serve the people that every second bureaucrat is desirous of becoming the chairman CDA. This is an agency where even a manhole cover never costs less than one million rupees. Great shame then that NAB has not been able to apprehend a single CDA employee for corruption when all it has to do is to check the employees' bank accounts, bank lockers, and raid their homes to discover cash stashes worth billions. About two years ago, the CDA officials discovered the utility of signal-free avenues that, no doubt, are useful. It is a different matter altogether, though, that none of these avenues were constructed for less than a billion rupees. In another country, they would easily construct these at one-third of the cost, commissions paid. Now we are experiencing a rash of never-ending construction of fly-overs. Delayed constructions actually because delay means the cost are going up. -MIRZA PARVEZ BAIG, Islamabad, via e-mail, December 6.