RAWALPINDI: For new development projects around the Islamabad International Airport (IIA) under the control of Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), developers and owners of commercial and high-rise buildings do not require a separate no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

According to a press release, earlier to obtain an NOC for the height of a building the builder had to first contact the Survey of Pakistan and then the CAA to obtain the NOC.

RDA Chairman Tariq Mehmood Murtaza said: “As per the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan the construction sector has been given the status of industry, we have started work to facilitate the approval process of maps and other housing schemes and efforts have also been made to change legal formalities.”

In this regard, he said, he met Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan and informed him that it was necessary to get an NOC from the CAA for construction by housing schemes around the new airport.

There is a lot of time wasted in this regard. Therefore, a plan of action should be formulated that if a housing scheme has been given the NOC, owners of buildings in the society should not be required to obtain an NOC again.

“The builders and developers had also demanded simplification of the procedure and facilities to the construction sector, he said. He quoted the aviation minister as saying that innovative procedures had been devised for the construction of buildings within a radius of 15 km around the new airport.

“The minister asked the CAA to conduct a training workshop from September 30 for the RDA and others so that the capacity of the personnel can be enhanced,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2020