I WAS shocked to see bayana (money paid in advance) forms of property dealers by Lahore Development Authority (LDA) with bright chances of ill-informed sellers of plots falling easy victims to fraudsters.

I mean fraudsters and not all property dealers. I have failed to understand the logic behind bayana when safer straight sales deal like those in DHA are possible. I bought one plot in DHA-I, Islamabad, in a few hours without any problem.

Sure, the present LDA management can do even better and also minimise or eliminate attestations by gazetted officers as done in India to show trust in citizens instead of the British colonial system of total distrust in local people and treating everyone as a suspect.

Furthermore, certified and verified documents are available with the LDA and more can be verified if required. It will be a pleasant change from the colonial concept.

I urge the new director-general of the LDA to introduce a speedy plot sale facility through bank to obviate any fraud and to people’s lives easier.

Furthermore, he should look into the possibility of an online sale system for sellers who are widows, sick, handicapped, and those in poor health and very old living far away from Lahore, and movement is a serious problem, particularly when there is no one to help travel to Lahore and back.

M. Akram
Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2019