Safa Gold Mall stops shining

CDA seals shopping centre over violations of building plans, overdue payments

ISLAMABAD: People visiting one of the city’s most popular indoor shopping areas got a rude surprise on Wednesday as they found the doors to SAFA Gold Mall were closed.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) Building Control Section (BCS) has sealed the multi-storey shopping centre in Jinnah Super Market over building code violations.

The operation was carried out in presence of the CDA magistrate and BCS staff.

“The CDA kept the operation secret. BCS enforcement staffers were called at 6 am and the operation was carried out at 7 am,” a CDA official told The Express Tribune. He added that the CDA staff did not face any resistance from the owners of the mall — Al-Safa Golden Company.

The primary charges against the mall’s owners are building plan violations — specifically the construction of the eighth floor — and failure to pay Rs70 million owed to the CDA.

“The CDA had previously objected to the construction of the eighth floor, terming it a violation of the rules. Construction of the eighth floor had to be suspended, but the owner continued building with the intent of setting up a cinema on that level,” said CDA Public Relations Deputy Director Malik Saleem Akhter. He said that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had also asked the management of a shopping mall to vacate CDA’s land at the earliest.

The letter states that the “Building plans for the eighth floor were approved...on the basis of readjustment of circulation area”.

The letter continues to identify modifications to the approved building plan which have reduced the size of corridors, which in turn actually increased the floor area ratio (FAR) beyond what was approved. The letter further said that it had been decided to suspend the aforementioned approval till appropriate adjustments of FAR were made and that no work could be carried out at the site till then.

In addition, in May 2015, the CDA had sent notices to the owners of the mall directing them to vacating public land on which it had installed machinery including generators and cooling towers. The management of the mall had covered a minor stream adjacent to the premises and placed generators and cooling systems there.

A store operator at the mall told The Express Tribune that the management had told him the issue would be resolved by Thursday evening. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if the mall is still closed on Friday,” he added.

The manager of a restaurant in the mall complained about revenue losses, while opining that if the mall owed the CDA “so much money” money, it made sense for the civic agency to take action. He said he hoped the mall would be operational soon as hundreds of jobs depended on it.

Running issue

The row between the CDA and the mall management started cropping up soon after owner they were awarded the land against a bid of Rs321,000 per square yard in 2010.

At various points of time, the mall owners have called on the Board of Investment to intervene on its behalf, while the CDA has called on the National Accountability Bureau to assist it in recovering the overdue instalments.

In July 2015, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had permitted the CDA to stop the construction of the cinema house. The CDA was able to stop construction at the time, but it was re-initiated soon after.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2016.