Traders get seat on CDA’s design vetting body

ICTA facilitation desk opened at ICCI

ISLAMABAD:

To spur construction activities in the federal capital, the city’s administrative and civic authorities have offered to grant traders and businesspeople a seat on the design vetting body.

This was offered by Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration Chief Commissioner and Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Amir Ali Ahmed on Friday as he inaugurated a facilitation desk which has been set up at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI).

Addressing the ceremony, Ahmed announced that representatives of ICCI will be included in CDA’s design committee to speed up the process of submitting and approving construction plans for structures being built by the private sector in the city.

Highlighting various initiatives he had taken to reform the CDA, Ahmed said that the authority has now been converted into a financially robust body. As evidence of this, he pointed to how the civic authority had closed out the outgoing financial year 2019-20, with a surplus of around Rs9 billion.

‘Constitutional amendment needed to alter CDA board’

This, he claimed, was a far cry from the situation where the authority could not pay the salaries of its staff when he took over.

Moreover, he said that CDA’s development budget has increased from 20 per cent to 36 per cent, adding that the authority also generated around Rs17 billion from the auction of plots just last month.

In this regard, he said that Rs25 billion have been dedicated for carrying out development works in the city. He added that this sum will be further increased to Rs35 billion.

Addressing concerns of traders regarding the dilapidated state of roads in the city, Ahmed promised that the CDA will soon start repairing them. He further said that they were in the process of hiring consultants for building parking plazas apart from a rainwater harvesting project to solve the issue of water shortage in the city.

CDA, FGEHA barred from allotting plots

On the facilitation desk, which will provide traders and business people easy access to some 18 departments operating under the district government, Ahmed said that the ICCI should also set up a similar desk for the CDA.

ICCI President Ahmed Waheed said that the desk will help its members promote their businesses.

He pointed out that a similar desk for Customs has already been set up in the chamber and they plan to add desks for CDA, FBR, and the police.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2020.