Snail’s pace: 10-year-old housing project awaits power connections

Developers had promised modern facilities at FDA City

FAISALABAD:

A residential project of the district government launched under the Faisalabad Development Authority (FDA) by the name of FDA City in 2005 still awaits electricity supply.

The FDA City was planned over 1,600 acres near the Motorway (M-3) and Sargodha-Faisalabad Road.

Amjad Habib, an allottee in the FDA City told The Express Tribune the developers had promised to provide electricity supply within two years.

“Nearly 10 years have passed but there is still no power,” he said.

He said the FDA had collected more than Rs5 billion promising state-of-the-art facilities including electricity, safe drinking water, metalled roads and a modern sewerage system. “In 2007, when the developers failed to provide the promised facilities, dozens of allottees started asking for their money back,” he said.



He said the developers assured them that electricity would be made available within another two years - that is, by 2009.

He said power had not been provided to this day.

He said the FDA City had been promised on the premise that many houses in Ghulam Muhammadabad and Peoples Colony were in poor condition and that new housing scheme would provide better facilities to residents.

The FDA City was the first project in the province conceived under a public-private partnership. Under this arrangement, the land was acquired by the FDA from private owners and proprietors of these lands were given files of the plots after deducting development charges were deducted.

The master plan included a golf club, a police post, community centre, a mosque and a dispensary.

Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) SDO Ghulam Dastgir said the FDA developers had not paid the full amount to FESCO as was decided in a meeting held in 2007. He said an agreement was signed between the FESCO and the FDA City management under which the developers had to pay Rs1.25 billion to the FESCO.

He said the FDA City had paid Rs70 million for security and Rs35 million for provision of electricity supply in A-1 and F-1 blocks of the city.

Talking to The Express Tribune, FDA Chairman Sheikh Ejaz said the project was vital for overcoming housing crisis in Faisalabad.

“The work on the city has been slower than it should have been but as soon as I assumed charge, I have addressed grievances of the allottees,” he said.

He said electricity had been supplied in two blocks. He said it would become operational in 60 days. He said other blocks would also be provided electricity in phases. He said green zones would be developed as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2015.