The apex civic authority of the federal capital has been urged by businesspeople of the city to revise building by-laws to boost construction activities in the region.
This was urged on Saturday by Sardar Yasir Khan, the president of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) while addressing a delegation of Traders Welfare Association (TWA) of Sector G-11 Markaz.
Of the 12 plots sold in the newly introduced New Blue Area Vision strip in the federal capital earlier this year, investors in only four plots have submitted building layout plans even though the government had announced a special construction package for companies who submitted their plans by the end of December.
Yasir said that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) should amend its building by-laws in consultation with the chamber members, developers, builders and other stakeholders to boost construction activities in the federal capital as the existing laws are not conducive for the construction industry.
He said that the prime minister’s construction package is originally set to expire on December 31, and urged the government to consider extending it for another year to enable investors to take maximum benefit of it and generate greater economic activity across the country.
The ICCI president further complained that the authority does not issue titles to those buying apartments constructed in the upper portions of commercial plots, noting that titles are only being given to plot holders. As a result, he said that owners of these apartments are unable to seek financing for these properties- who require titles to issue loans.
Moreover, he said that the Building Control Section (BCS) of CDA has been issuing notices to owners of commercial buildings for constructing additional storeys in markets, which was a cause of great concern.
Yasir said that demolishing additional storeys in markets will cause great financial loss to investors besides affecting business activities. He stressed that instead of demolition, CDA should regularize all additional storey constructions with nominal charges so that business activities could flourish.
He said that ICCI has been working with the CDA to develop a standard operating procedure (SOPs) for removing encroachments from markets.
On the other hand, the ICCI chief assured the association members that the chamber will cooperate with them to resolve key issues of traders.
TWA President Aftab Gujjar and other members stressed that CDA should urgently install streetlights in the commercial area because their absence was creating a law and order situation with rising incidents of car thefts, mobile snatching and burglary in shops.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 6th, 2020.
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