ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) management on Wednesday decided to expedite development work in four sectors - E-12, I-12, C-15 and C-16 - which had been facing delays.

Presiding over a meeting on the progress of development in sectors, CDA Chairman Anwarul Haq expressed his displeasure over the slow progress of development work in four sectors and directed the engineering wing to remove hurdles and expedite the process.

“No delay in development of these sectors can be tolerated. Make it clear, my main priority is sectors’ development, therefore, everyone will have to perform,” the chairman said.

Mr Haq also said there was a need for new housing units in Islamabad and to fulfill this demand, “the CDA will have to provide developed plots to people to construct houses.”

Development in E-12, I-12, C-15, C-16 had been facing delays for years

The chairman directed that all issues which were hindering development work should be resolved.

E-12 sector was launched in 1989 and after 34 years, development work still remained incomplete. A few years ago, its development work was started in three sub-sectors 1, 2 and 3. The contract of the two sub-sectors 2 and 3 was awarded to the same contractor, who left work halfway. As a result, the CDA cancelled the contract.

Meanwhile, work is lying abandoned in these two sectors while in sub-sector 3, another contractor has undertaken work but in sub-sector 4, work had not been awarded because of adverse possession of land. This sector has over 4,000 residential plots.

Similarly, development work in land-sharing sectors - C-15 and C-16 - is continuing (both sectors have over 5,000 plots) but both are facing hurdles because of built-up property (BuP) issues.

The BuP awards of C-15 sector had already been announced in 2016 and 2023, but allotment letters were not issued by the land directorate which resulted in resistance being put by the locals in development work.

Meanwhile, the BuP award of C-16 sector has not been announced yet by the CDA and there is also a question mark on initial survey conducted by the revenue department during marking of houses.

“There is no rocket science involved in the survey; all those houses which have utility connections should be considered for BuP compensation,” a CDA official said.

Moreover, development of I-12 sector, which has over 6,000 plots, has also been facing delay because of some issues with the previous contract related to service roads.

Meanwhile, work regarding construction of streets is continuing.

The CDA chairman has advised Director General Works Habibullah Sheikh to resolve all issues of the said sectors and expedite development work. He also stressed on expediting efforts to start development work in Kuri scheme - an exclusive scheme to be launched for overseas Pakistanis.

As per a source, the chairman was of the view that CDA’s main function was development of sectors, therefore, he would pay full focus on this issue and no engineering wing would have to deliver.

Mr Haq has decided to hold a meeting again on Thursday to look into issues of the sectors mentioned, in details and propose solutions. He also directed the engineering and estate wings to come up with a proper home work.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2023