Traders may sit on CDA board
The apex civic authority of the federal capital on Thursday hinted at opening the door for traders to sit on its board when making key decisions about the business community.
This was disclosed as the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration Chief Commissioner Amir Ali Ahmed visited the offices of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI). He was accompanied by ICT Director-General Syeda Shafaq Hashmi.
ICCI President Sardar Yasir Khan gave a detailed presentation to the CDA chief on key issues of the business community and urged him to grant the ICCI chairman a seat on the CDA’s board so that the voices of the business community of the city can be represented in the city’s policymaking.
Further, Yasir said that the CDA, in consultation with the ICCI should establish a new industrial estate spread over 2,000-acres in Islamabad since the existing industrial estates have been saturated while potential investors are moving to other places.
The ICCI chief further said that the CDA should allow two or more bifurcations of adjacent industrial plots apart from selling additional land adjacent to industrial plots on the rates received in the last auction.
The civic authority, Yasin said, should provide free, amenity plots for the establishment of dispensaries and mosques in the industrial areas. Moreover, the CDA should allocate plots in the markets for parking plazas or arrange for parking in markets on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.
Another major demand put forward by the ICCI chief was for the CDA to defer the receipt of property taxes, and to reduce its rate while allowing payment in easy instalments.
He said CDA should streamline the process of granting completion certificates and approving building plans to facilitate the business community.
The CDA, in cooperation with the ICCI, should also build a dedicated exhibition centre in Islamabad, he said.
Noting that the ICCI plans to organise a shopping and winter festival in the federal capital, the CDA should cooperate in making these festivals successful.
Responding to the demands of the traders, CDA Chairman Ahmed said that the civic body will soon launch a mobile application to address issues and complaints of the business community. For complaints registered on the app, they will be resolved within 72 hours.
Moreover, the CDA chief promised to consult the traders to allocate land for a new industrial estate in the city along the Ring Road on the Rawat-Sihala belt.
He also agreed to the proposal for including the ICCI president in CDA board meetings, adding that the private sector will be invited to offer their input and recommendations.
A summary will be sent to the relevant quarters in the federal government to grant a permanent seat to the ICCI incumbent on CDA’s Board.
Ahmed said that soon, he will send a team from CDA’s planning section to discuss with ICCI members planning and approval regimes for commercial and industrial buildings.
With the federal government pushing a policy in favour of high-rises, he said that the CDA will encourage them in a balanced manner. In this regard, he said that floor-area-ratio (FAR) charges have been halved and will be further liberalized.
On the issue of parking in commercial centres, Ahmed said that CDA will build parking plazas in markets on public-private partnership for which tenders will be floated soon. To enhance the green nature of the city, he said that some 235 parks of Islamabad will be revived in the next three months. The abandoned sewerage treatment plant will be made functional and a new contractor will be hired for improving the state of sanitation services in the city.
The CDA chief also extended support for ICCI’s shopping and winter festivals.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2020.