Islamabad High Court (IHC) here Monday directed the land acquisition collector to make arrangements for the payment of acquired land within a fortnight for development of plots for

federal government employees, journalists and lawyers in Sector G-14.

Capital Development Authority (CDA) will construct modern marriage lawns with latest facilities at different sites in the federal capital for the residents.

A high level meeting in this regard was held here on Friday, which was chaired by CDA Chairman Kamran Lashari.

Director PMO informed the meeting that 49 prominent firms have applied in response to the advertisement of which 16 have been pre-qualified after a detailed scrutiny.

The 16 firms have been asked to submit their financial status within a period of one month for further selection.

By Faryal Najeeb

KARACHI: Property prices have crashed by up to 35 per cent in all major cities over the past two to three months due to a tremulous financial market and investments being shifted to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) real estate sector.

Experts and dealers in the local estate markets revealed that Pakistan is suffering from its worst ever property crisis. A 500 square yard plot in one part of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) initially priced at Rs12.5 million was sold for a mere eight million rupees.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) would be taking five mega development projects in the next one and a half months for maximum utilisation of development funds allocated for financial year 2008-2009.

The budget document says the authority had earmarked Rs2 billion for these development projects including Zero Point Interchange, rehabilitation and expansion of Kashmir Highway, expansion of Garden Avenue and expansion and rehabilitation of Lehtrar Road.