PHOTO: EXPRESS
It has now decided to form a commission at the national level on its own accord, headed by a federal minister. Sources informed Express on Saturday that the interior ministry ordered the CDA Chairman to form a special commission upon which a summary containing recommendations to form the proposed commission by the CDA was sent to the interior ministry.
It was recommended that the CDA Master Plan Director Zafar Iqbal be appointed the head of the commission while the names of officers of urban planning department o the CDA were proposed for the commission’s members. The interior ministry instead of approving the proposed summary decided to form a national level commission on its own on Saturday evening.
The head of the commission will be a federal minister whose name will be finalised by PM Imran Khan next week. Sources informed that two officers from CDA, member planning and Islamabad master plan director will be included while the advice to include chief commissioner and tehsildar Islamabad is also under consideration.
The number of members of the proposed commission will be 10 to 12 and its final approval will be given by the PM after which the interior ministry will issue a notification for the formation of the commission. Sources said that with the formation of the commission, the department of windows that issued the notification will utilise the authority to regularise the constructions in Zone IV according to the commission. It must be clarified that this step was taken after a CDA notice was issued to Imran Khan.
Attempts by residents of the Bani Gala area of the federal capital, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, to regularise their properties have come unstuck after the apex civic body objected that the documents submitted were incomplete.
Following directions from the Supreme Court to regularise illegal properties in the Bani Gala area of the city, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had directed residents to submit the requisite documents at their one-window facilitation centre, adding that fines will be imposed on the irregular properties with separate rates for residential buildings and commercial plazas.
Subsequently around 165 residents of Bani Gala, including Prime Minister Imran Khan — whom the Supreme Court had directed to be the first to submit applications and pay the fine so as to set an example, filed their papers at CDA’s one-window centre.
However, CDA sources said that none of the applications filed contained complete documents. Officials added that the property owners have been informed about the status of their applications with the advice that they re-submit their applications with the complete documents.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2018.
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