Apna Ghar

Only Rs 963 million has been allocated for development of ignored sectors in the CDA budget 2009-10, announced on Tuesday, which ran against claims of the authority’s head about placing focus on development of ignored sectors. Due to slow development of new sectors, a housing shortage has been growing in the city. The CDA allocated Rs 1.040 billion last year for sectors’ development. A senior official told Daily Times that the CDA should complete the sectors launched already before announcing new ones.

Bahria Town and Sheraton Hotels have signed an agreement for construction of two hotels in Islamabad. Lack of an international standard hotel in Islamabad was being felt since long. The Bahria Town and Sheraton hotels agreed to build two world-class hotels in the federal capital.

The agreement was signed by Malik Riaz Hussain, chairman Bahria Town and Ronaldo Das, President Sheraton Hotel, Middle East, Africa and Europe, at Dubai. The construction of the world-class hotels in Islamabad would not only create job opportunities, but would also increase investment in the country.

* Defence minister says CAA running the project on self-finance basis
* 3,200 acres acquired near Fatehjang

By Irfan Ghauri

The under construction Islamabad International Airport will be operational by the end of 2011, said Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, minister for defense, in a written reply to a question in the National Assembly on Friday.

Mukhtar told the House that Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had acquired 3,200 acres of land for the airport near Fatehjang, about 20 km from Zero Point, Islamabad, and 23 km from Saddar, Rawalpindi.

* Official says delay aggravating housing units’ shortage

By Fazal Sher

ISLAMABAD: Prolonged delay in revision of capital’s master plan is aggravating the problem of housing units’ shortage in the city with every passing day, an official of Capital Development Authority (CDA) told Daily Times on Friday.

“In time revision of master plan could have saved CDA from many problems it was facing presently,” he added.

CDA has so far failed to give final shape to the revised master plan of Islamabad on which it started work some four years back, he said.

The government is fleecing the public by imposing several taxes including Transfer Fee, Capital Value Tax (CVT), Provincial Stamp Duty, Cantonment Board Tax and Transfer of Immovable Property Tax (TIP) on sale and purchase of properties.
If the govt remains stick to its policies of imposing more taxes on real estate than no one can stop the capital to fly once again to Dubai because of their liberal tax policy.

Imtiaz Inayat Elahi on Wednesday assumed the charge as new Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman.

During his first introductory meeting with the CDA board members and senior officers, the newly appointed chairman said progress and development of the city, especially its neglected sectors, provision of basic amenities of life to citizens, water conservation and improvement of environment was top priority.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has issued a no objection certificate (NoC) to Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA) for launching housing scheme in Kurri Road area for the officers of various occupational groups in BPS-17 and above of the federal government.

The sources said the PHA has started housing scheme in various cities under the Prime Minister’s Housing Programme aimed at providing houses/flats to government employees and general public on affordable cost.

Capital Development Authority has decided to develop Sector I-15 in cooperation with a private firm, sources in the CDA told this news agency on Monday. They said initially a Dubai-based firm had shown interest in joint venture of the sector opened five years ago. They said that 8,000 flats and 5,500 plots had been earmarked in the sector where development work could not be started for one reason or the other. The amount collected by auctioning off plots and flats of the sector is being spent on other development projects in the capital, the sources added.

* FBR chairman says property transactions not to be recognised until payment of CVT

By Sajid Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: The government is planning to bring in a new law to restrict the transfer of immoveable property without the payment of a 4 percent capital value tax (CVT) in all four provinces.

KARACHI: United Defence Clifton Estate Agents Association (UDCEAA) President Raja Mazhar Hussian said here on Friday that 75 manufacturing industries were directly connected with the real estate business and hundreds of other professions related to it indirectly, said a press release.

Reacting to the recent addresses of Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin, he said if a tax was imposed on the real estate sector, unemployment would increase and hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis would become jobless.

* Land acquisition for C-13, D-13, E-13, F-13, C-14, C-15 and C-16 sectors likely to complete by end of current year
* Every owner of four kanals land will get 500 square yards plot

By Irfan Ghauri

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) plans to develop seven new sectors by 2011, the Senate was informed during the question hour on Thursday.

According to the written information placed before the House, land acquisition for these sectors – C-13, D-13, E-13, F-13, C-14, C-15 and C-16 – was likely to be completed by end of current year.

Capital Development Authority (CDA) has issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA), enabling the latter to launch a housing scheme in a Kurri Road area for the BPS-17 federal government officers of various occupational groups.

The PHA has started housing schemes in various cities under Prime Minister’s Housing programme aimed at providing houses or flats to the needy, government employees and general public at affordable cost.

The Punjab government has completely banned commercialisation on 20 roads in LDA residential areas falling in different housing schemes in line with the new commercialisation policy recently notified by the department of housing & urban development and public health engineering. Most of the roads fall in Johar Town
and Sabzazar schemes. Other roads facing ban include from Multan Road to Naqsha Stop, Khiabaneh Jinnah Road starting from Shaukat Khanam Hospital and Raiwind Road.

* DHA bars Residents Association from charity drives
* Spokesman says RA illegal after DHA became housing authority

By Afnan Khan

LAHORE: Declaring the registered body of its residents — the Residents Association (RA) — illegal, the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) administration has issued a legal notice to one of its leaders, warning him to halt activities related to the RA.

* Official says authority asked for Rs 6.66 billion for 28 projects but government allocated only Rs 1.46 billion for 16 schemes

By Fazal Sher

The government has allocated Rs 1.46 billion (1456.72 million to be precise) for the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) 16 projects in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), 2009-10.

Of the funding whose approval came during a National Economic Council (NEC) meeting on Thursday, Rs 521.45 million is for 10 ongoing projects and Rs 935.28 million for six new ones, a CDA official told Daily Times on Friday.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday admitted for regular hearing a petition challenging the levy of transfer fee on plots in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) by three different authorities. The association of DHA estate agents has moved the petition. The petitioners submitted that the Cantonment Board, the concerned town municipal administration and the DHA were separately charging fees for transferring the ownership of property.

The consultant of the recently laid drainage system in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) has warned that there could be localized accumulation of up to 12 inches of rainwater on the streets in a few localities of the area during the upcoming monsoon.

The consultant’s word of caution came on Tuesday during a meeting between a delegation of the Association of Defence Residents (ADR) led by its General Secretary, Asad Kizilbash and the DHA administration, said a press release issued on Wednesday.

* Finance secretary says new tax will improve overall tax-to-GDP ratio

ISLAMABAD: The federal government and the four provincial governments have agreed to impose a capital gains tax (CGT) on the real estate sector and a general sales tax (GST) on the services sector to improve economic activity, Federal Finance Secretary Salman Siddique said on Monday.

• Official says study will take six months to complete
* 38-km-long road will originate at Rawat junction of Islamabad Expressway and terminate at New Islamabad Airport

By Aamir Yasin

Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has received Rs 19 million for the preparation of the feasibility study of construction of Ring Road (City Boulevard) and economic zones in the vicinity following its approval by the provincial government, it’s learnt.

A private firm is to be awarded a contract for the purpose next week, a RDA official said on Friday.