ISLAMABAD: The city managers on Thursday issued notices to owners of 10 high-rise buildings for using them without getting the mandatory completion certificates.

A completion certificate is the licence for the occupancy of a building.

An official explained that the completion certificate was issued after the owner fulfilled all the requirements, including emergency and disaster management such as fire safety equipment, implementation of building plans and ensured the structural stability of the building.

But the owners of the 10 skyscrapers, in alleged connivance with the Capital Development Authority (CDA) officials, have been using the buildings without the certificates.

CDA says owners are using buildings without obtaining completion certificates

The buildings that did not possess the completion certificates included Centaurus Mall, Silver Oaks in F-10 Markaz, UBL building, Blue Area, the stock exchange building, Safa Gold Mall, the OGDCL building, Grand Hyatt Hotel (already sealed) and two five-star hotels.

However, the CDA ignored the high-rise buildings in Sector E-11 and other unacquired areas. An official told Dawn that the owners of several buildings in the unacquired areas had been issued public notices a couple of years ago but they did not pay any heed.

He said unauthorised construction of commercial buildings continued in various unacquired areas, including Zone IV.

Under the CDA ordinance, the civic agency is supposed to enforce its by-laws across the capital.

CDA officials told Dawn that in the light of the guidance of Doxiadis Associates, the Greek firm that developed the master plan of the capital, the civic agency after a delay of many decades formed proper regulations in 2005 after the deadly earthquake.

However, the officials said it was obvious that subsequent constructions did not follow the anti-seismic regulations, especially when it came to the high-rise buildings.

“Today, we have issued notices to owners of high-rise buildings and given them one month to submit their documents for getting the clearance certificates,” CDA Member Planning Asad Mehboob Kayani told Dawn.

He said the authority was also going to place an advertisement in the press, warning the violators to follow the by-laws otherwise strict action would be taken against them that could lead to the cancellation of their plots.

He said some of the owners of the high-rise buildings had applied for the completion certificates but were not issued the same due to the deficiency of documents.

In July this year, the CDA cancelled the 99-year-lease of Grand Hyatt and sealed the Safa shopping mall for the violations of its by-laws. Later, the civic agency reopened the mall after its owner gave an undertaking for removing the violations.

The case related to Grand Hyatt is, however, still pending adjudication in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Justice Athar Minallah of the IHC last week directed the CDA to submit a report on violations of its building by-laws.

In its report submitted to the court on Wednesday, the CDA said two five-star hotels, skyscrapers such as Centaurus, the UBL tower, OGDCL building, the Islamabad Stock Exchange building, Silver Oaks residential apartments, Safa Gold Mall and the under-construction Grand Hyatt hotel had violated the by-laws.

The report said in violation of the rules the management of the buildings allowed “occupancy without taking permission from the competent authority.”

It said during 2016 the CDA cancelled the lease of nine commercial plots, including that of Grand Hyatt. These plots included Park One in Sector F-10, another plot in the same sector adjacent to Silver Oaks, a hospital plot in I-8 Markaz, three plots in Margalla Town extension and one in F-9/G-9 which was leased out to a former federal minister. The plots were cancelled due to litigation and for non-payment.

About the Grand Hyatt, the CDA said in addition to “occupancy without taking permission from competent authority, M/s BNP, (the company that was constructing it), was also accused of not constructing the main component, a tower for the five-star hotel. The approval of plan expired in 2013 and a revised plan was not submitted for revival as per the approved format. Service apartments which were not for sale were sold out to general public. The CDA had given approval for 12 service apartments whereas M/s BNP constructed 240 apartments.”

Moreover, sound and stability and other certificates from the architect and engineer were still required.

The CDA allowed M/s BNP to construct the building with flexible height but due to an objection from the Civil Aviation Authority reduced the number of storeys.

The report said the management of the Safa shopping mall used unauthorised area for parking and the installation of air conditioner plants besides commercialising the basement.

The CDA also accused the management of Centaurus of occupancy without taking permission from the authority and non-conforming use of the basement.

Justice Minallah would resume hearing of the case on Friday. During the previous hearing, the court remarked that the CDA never took any action during the construction of the Grand Hyatt building but after its completion when the citizens started buying apartments it came into action to enforce its building rules.

The buyers of the apartments included a former chief justice of Pakistan, PTI chairman Imran Khan, sons of former naval chief Noman Bashir and ex-foreign secretary Salman Bashir.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2016