Housing shortage: CDA to launch new sectors shortly

Islamabad major says new body will be established to frame building by-laws

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) will launch new sectors within a month time to overcome housing shortage.

Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz said this while speaking at a “Meet-the-Press” here at the National Press Club on Sunday.

Aziz, who has also been given charge of the CDA as acting chairman, said that work on the already launched and incomplete sectors would also be expedited.

The mayor, who was flanked by deputy mayors Zeeshan Naqvi and Chaudhry Riffat Javed, said that the Islamabad Building Control Authority (IBCA) would be established for framing building by-laws and issuing no-objection certificates for new buildings and housing societies. He said that the IBCA would also cover rural areas.

The mayor said that the federal capital would be rid of encroachments in phases in consultation with trader bodies.

“Before initiating an anti-encroachment drive, trader organisations would be taken into confidence,” he said adding that a survey has already been carried out in Sector F-6 to identify encroachments there.

“A sum of Rs10.25 million has already been released for improving water supply system in Islamabad,” he said adding that the land acquisition process for laying a pipeline from Ghazi-Brotha to Islamabad would soon be initiated.

Aziz said that public parks and playgrounds in all sectors would be rehabilitated and citizen committees would be formed to monitor the rehabilitation process.

“A chairman of a union council would head the sector committees,” he said. The mayor said that the CDA was also working on a plan to develop playgrounds in rural Islamabad.

He said that the waste management system of 50 union councils would be outsourced and its contract would be awarded to a solid waste management company after a transparent bidding.

Responding to a question, Aziz said that the rehabilitation of IGP Road from Peshawar Mor to Pirwadhai has begun while rehabilitation work from Pirwadhai to Pindora Chungi would be initiated within a few days.

He said that the Kashmir Highway would be made single-free up to Golra Mor and it would be linked to the motorway at a later stage.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2016.