CDA asked to halt operation till finalisation of Zone V by-laws

Islamabad : The builders and developers owning properties in Zone-V of the federal capital Saturday urged the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to halt its anti-encroachment operation till the finalisation of by-laws for the area.

Addressing a seminar held by Builders and Developers Association (BDA) here, the owners said they had already lost billions of rupees consequent to the CDA’s operation which needed to be stopped immediately till the settlement of matter.

During its operation, the civic agency had demolished or sealed commercial plazas, mid and small rise buildings in Zone V s commercial area.

The BDA’s General Secretary Jameel Khaliq said the association would act as bridge between city planners and private builders to make the real estate industry more competitive and aligned to the future economic development needs of Pakistan.

He said the seminar was not only arranged to launch its official website but also provide platforms to the investors of Zone V for formulating a future strategy to safeguard their huge investments.

The secretary appealed the CDA to do de-sealing of the sealed buildings at earliest to save the billions in private investment and thousands of jobs.

Khaliq said the CDA''s operation had badly shaken the confidence of real estate agents of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad who could not get due dividend of their huge investment in the Zone V.

Raja Baber of Darvesh Estate Group appreciated the BDA for gathering several key stakeholders of estate industry to urge the CDA approve the submitted drawings of the buildings in Zone V.

He said the owners were willing to pay the penalty to get their buildings regularized.

Muhammad Shafique of Imarat group of companies said the area involved huge sum of money of local and overseas Pakistanis and the situation should be rectified swiftly as it may hurt the investment climate in Pakistan.

He claimed that the estate sector solely had a potential to pay the country’s foreign loans.

The country still owned the land of 250 billion US dollars that could be developed, he added.

Brig (Retd) Mohsin Ali, the DBA’s member said the e-governance was imperative in the CDA and other relevant departments to boost the economic activities in the country.

CDA’s Member Planning Shahid Masood said the CDA operation was in pursuance of the apex court’s ruling which had directed the authority to gain the control of its land across the federal capital.

He assured the gathering that the said by-laws would be finalized by the end of this month which would be forwarded to the federal cabinet after nod by the CDA board.

The BDA’s Vice President Farhan Javed while talking to this agency said the Zone V

area had some 150 big plazas which was having investment of 70 builders. Farhan said

now the CDA had asked the departments concerned to not provide utilities connections in the area including electricity and gas.