QUETTA, July 22: The board of directors of the Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) has decided to act against the ‘land mafia’ in Gwadar and directed the departments concerned to take effective measures without delay. The decision was taken at a meeting held in Gwadar on Friday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf who leads the board. The meeting was attended by provincial ministers Syed Ehsan Shah and Sher Jan Baloch, Chief Secretary K.B. Rind and GDA Director-General Ahmed Bakhsh Lehri.

The board took serious notice of the activities of the ‘mafia’ which, it observed, were damaging the image of the emerging port city. It ordered immediate action against estate agents and others involved in land scams.

The meeting approved the procedure for issuing no-objection certificates for residential and commercial schemes in Gwadar.

It decided to increase the plot transfer fee and development charges on private construction in Gwadar and to use the income on GDA’s administrative and development work.

Taking note of advertisement campaigns about private schemes in the free trade zone in Gwadar, the meeting decided to legally bind private parties to take approval of their advertisements from the GDA.

The board also approved the PC-1 of the federal government-approved projects included in the Gwadar Master Plan.

It decided that a part of development funds being provided by the federal and provincial governments for the projects and the master plan would be spent on improving the drainage system, roads and other facilities in the present city of Gwadar.

The meeting approved changes in the GDA budget for 2005-06, appointment of some officers and a conditional grant of Rs500 million for the authority.

The meeting approved the procedure for allotment of plots in the Gurab Housing Scheme, a new housing project of the GDA, and decided that the plots would be allotted only to poor fishermen and labourers.

The GDA had handed over 500 plots to the labour department for a labour colony, the meeting was told.

The board reviewed the pace of work on the Gwadar Master Plan and other ongoing development projects.