LAHORE: Law likely to bind house owners to plant trees
By Our Reporter
LAHORE, Jan 26: The Punjab government is considering promulgation of a law binding every owner to plant trees in front of his house to control environment pollution.
Punjab Housing and Urban Development Minister Syed Raza Ali Gilani said at a departmental meeting here on Wednesday the proposed law would be applicable on the people living in all the private and public sector housing schemes.
He said his department would help the private sector to develop the housing schemes launched after the approval of the government agencies concerned. He stressed the need for developing low-cost housing units in small cities and towns to discourage migration to big cities.
SKYSCRAPERS: District Nazim Mian Amer Mahmood has said that the City District Government has allowed the construction of three skyscrapers in the provincial metropolis besides allowing installation of over 300 petrol and CNG pumps.
Speaking while distributing the regularization letters among 40 work-charged employees and appointment letters among the children of four deceased employees at the LDA Complex here on Wednesday, the Nazim said the construction of two 40-storeyed skyscrapers had been allowed on Gulberg Main Boulevard and a 50-storeyed in front of Falletis Hotel on Egerton Road.
He also announced allocation of three per cent quota of plots for the LDA employees in all the housing schemes and distribution of one per cent of the commercialization fee recovered in excess of the target among the employees.
He said the authority would acquire a new asphalt plant and start construction of a multi-storeyed commercial building at the Wasa Head Office site on Jail Road during the next financial year. It would also build a new school for its employees and two petrol pumps.
The district Nazim, who is also the ex-officio LDA chairman, said that the authority had become bankrupt and was finding it difficult to pay salaries to its employees when the CDG was established four years ago.
The authority had now become financially viable and had collected Rs290 million commercialization fee during the past six months against the annual target of Rs160 million. Income from the fee was likely to exceed Rs500 million.
He said the LDA was completing the development work in its housing schemes which were left unfinished during the past 20 years. Power supply and gas would be available in all the schemes by the end of June.
Mr. Amer said the record of the authority had been computerized to eliminate chances of fraudulent allotment and transfer of plots. LDA Staff Welfare Union President Bashir Gujjar presented the address of welcome.
