PUNJAB Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has issued instructions for immediate suspension of the officers of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) who failed to demolish plazas and high-rise buildings constructed in violation of the relevant laws.

Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to construct a Club House, covering 5,000 square yards, at Super Market in Sector F-6 Markaz at a cost of Rs 10 million.

CDA Deputy Director-General (Works) Sanaullah Aman said construction work on the proposed Club House would be started from October 15 that would be completed within one month. He said the Club House would be linked with a multipurpose ground. He

By Fazal Sher

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has sent the final draft of Islamabad’s revised master plan to federal cabinet for approval and is likely to give a presentation to it on the plan in next few weeks.

The consultant, Mott McDonald Pakistan (MMP), hired by the civic body three years ago, has almost completed the revision of mater plan and it would be given final shape after cabinet’s approval, a senior official of CDA told Daily Times.

* SSP, ASP, SP, three ACs among those accommodated against rules
* 75,000 employees wait over years to get flat but one made it within two months

By Atif Khan

ISLAMABAD: Housing and Works Minister Rahmatullah Kakar has admitted in the Senate that this government has allotted 208 flats out of turn.

Answering a question by Muhammad Talha Mahmood, the minister said out-of-turn allotments have been made in almost all categories of flats.

The Capital Development Authority would initiate construction work of an interchange and underpass at Islamabad Highway in December this year, said a senior CDA official here Saturday.

“Both the projects are in planning phase and work would be started soon after the designing likely to be completed within three months,” he said.

By Usman Manzoor

The people of Murree have once again knocked the doors of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to get their land rescued from a powerful housing society, which wants to build a golf club on the land by forcefully acquiring it.

A housing society has purchased some 3,333 kanals of land in a village named Salkhaiter in Murree to develop farm houses and a golf club. The society now wants to forcefully acquire the rest of 660 kanals of land of Salkhaiter, which has not been sold by the poor residents of villages because of their houses and ancestral graveyard.

By Noor Aftab
The Art and Craft Village along the Kashmir Highway next to the Rose and Jasmine Garden would be inaugurated on November 1, a senior CDA official told ‘The News’ here.

Spread over an area of 20 acres, the site will feature a cluster of craft-shops, children’s park area, residence of craftspeople, hostel for students, green areas, food courts, design centre, research and development centre, open-air theatre, studio for artists and exhibition hall.

By Nasir Iqbal
, Sept 24: A public interest defender told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that the Bahria Golf City coming up in the foothils of Murree would endanger the ecosystem of the area.

Advocate Shafqat Abbasi, appearing in a suo motu hearing by the court, alleged that the Punjab authorities were misusing the Land Acquisition Act 1894 to acquire land from the families of Salkhaiter village for the private developer of the city located some 15kms from the Rawal Dam.

ISLAMABAD, Sept 23: The Ministry of Housing and Works on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with two foreign companies to build houses and flats in major cities of the country.

The two foreign companies, German Impro and Canadian Star Development Corporation, would construct 200,000 residential units under the Prime Minister’s Housing Scheme.

Under the agreement, both the companies would invest $500 million in the first phase and intend to invest two billion euros.

* Slump in launch of new projects attributed to prevailing political uncertainty
* Builders and developers fear slow response

By Moonis Ahmed

KARACHI: There has been a significant reduction in the launch of new housing projects at a time that is considered to be peak season for this activity owing to the prevailing uncertainty in the country, builders and developers told Daily Times.

The Saidpur Village reflecting traditional ambience of Potohar will be turned into a large tourist resort. CDA Director Sanaullah Aman told this news agency that extensive work was going on at the village to complete the project in the coming month. He said renovation work of centuries old Saidpur Village was being completed to restore the buildings to their original look with an emphasis on preserving and enhancing the Pakistani culture. The village will showcase arts and crafts of the provinces at one place and provide visitors a snapshot of the country’s cultural diversity, he added.

Under the new plan, the CDA will expand and rehabilitate the highway, which will have three flexible and two rigid lanes on each side. The work on the project is likely to start next month and it will be completed in 2010
— Official

By Fazal Sher

Kashmir Highway has become a white elephant for the finance department of Capital Development Authority (CDA) as it has consumed million of rupees during the last few years and the civic body is again set to spend Rs 800 million on its expansion and rehabilitation work starting next month.

The Lake City Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, the premium land developers and Habib Rafiq (Pvt) Ltd, the leading infrastructural and development company, signed an agreement on 16th September 2008 to develop phase III of Bella Vista of Lake City situated 13 km Raiwind Road.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to construct three new avenues in the federal capital to help streamline the traffic flow.

These roads include 6th Avenue, 10th Avenue and 11th Avenue and will link Kashmir Highway to Khayaban-e-Iqbal.

The 6th Avenue will be constructed in Sector G-6, 10th Avenue between Sector G-9 and G-10 while 11th Avenue would be constructed between Sector G-10 and G-11.

Work on a project to convert Islamabad Highway into an expressway by constructing a dozen of underpasses and a flyover to ease ever-increasing traffic is in full swing.

DCO demands setting up of a computerised system to seal records
Sehar Nasim/Sahar Amjad
District Coordination Officer Sajjad Ahmad Bhutha Wednesday said hundreds of LDA plots worth millions of rupees have been retrieved from land grabbers in the last three months.

He further said that land mafia gets photocopies of the forms of LDA titled documents to prepare and forge papers of any vacant plot for vested interests.

Capital Development Authority (CDA) will shortly initiate construction work on another diplomatic enclave in the federal capital to accommodate embassies and foreign missions operating in residential areas.

A senior CDA official Wednesday said that 37 embassies and foreign missions are working in residential areas of the capital city in violation of CDA by-laws and are vulnerable to security threats.

He said a new enclave would be far bigger than the existing one, as the Authority has allocated 870 acres of land for the new enclave while the existing one covers 764 acres.

Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA) will hold balloting for applicants who opted for Islamabad/Rawalpindi city as first preference for allotment of apartments in the low-paid federal government employees' category.

According to official sources, two categories of flats/apartments measuring, 900 and 700 square feet will be constructed for the federal government employees in Sector G-10/2 and G-11/3. Fifteen acre land has been acquired for the project, they added.

Expansion and rehabilitation work on Kashmir Highway will kick off next month that will be another mega project to be executed by Capital Development Authority (CDA) this year.

Capital Development Authority (CDA) has started acquiring land in I-17 to make it second industrial sector of the city, sources told this news agency on Monday. They said new industrial sector would be established on 800 acres. They said the CDA would also demarcate industrial plots and set up dry port, bus terminal and bus shelters in I-17. They said the CDA would design layout for new industrial sector after acquiring land in I-17.