Paucity of funds: Industries to remain in residential areas

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

ISLAMABAD: The capital city’s civic agency has postponed relocation of industrial units from residential areas to sector I-17. Officials in the Planning Directorate of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), which is responsible for implementing the project, told The Express Tribune that due to shortage of funds the plan has been shelved for an indefinite period.

The industrial units were to be shifted near the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway, where a new industrial zone was to be set up to provide better trade opportunities to industrialists.

The officials said more than 800 industrial units were presently functioning in three different localities of the capital city. Around 150 units are functioning in sector I-10, some 250 units in sector I-9, while another 350 are functional at Kohuta Road, near Humak.

“Many industrialists are anxiously waiting CDA’s new industrial zone project, but due to the apathetic attitude on the part of the civic body no progress has been made in this regard,” an official said.

After the announcement of a new industrial zone, a few industrialists even vacated their plots and started preparations to shift to the proposed location.

Around Rs5.82 billion is required for the development of the new industrial zone. But due to scarcity of funds, CDA could not pay the pledged amount to the land owners of the area as well as to
the Planning Directorate, which was supposed to finalise the project.

The affected people of sectors H-16 and I-17 have been staging protests outside CDA Headquarters, threatening not to allow work on the construction of the zone unless they get compensation against their land.

Sources informed that CDA Chairperson Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, along with other officials of the authority, is scheduled to visit I-9 and 1-10 sectors on Thursday to take industrialists into confidence.

Deputy Director General Planning Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu, when questioned, told The Express Tribune that the project would be completed at every cost. He said that it was not correct that the project had been shelved or postponed, adding that CDA was negotiating the issue with a Chinese company to build the new industrial zone.

Responding to a question, he replied that the affected people were “acting smart” and their “irresponsible attitude” could create problems.

However, CDA’s Member Estate SM Farooqui, on the other hand, said that due to financial constraints authority could not pay compensation to the land owners. The authority also requested Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) to compensate the affected persons so the dream to shift the industrial units from the city could be fulfilled.

But, so far, ICCI did not announce any package on the request of CDA officials. A traders’ representative said that the matter did come under discussion in the ICCI meeting. He said that traders revealed their concerns regarding the casual approach of civic body towards public issues.

Following the Islamabad High Court’s directions, the district magistrate had earlier heard the concerns of the affected people regarding irregularities in the award of land. During the course of hearing of a petition filed by some villagers, the petitioners maintained that compensation — Rs832,000 per kanal — was less than the original price of their land.

The district magistrate Islamabad also found irregularities in awarding of land in H-16 and H-17 and termed the petitioners demand as a “just” one. He also asked to increase the compensation announced by the authority in November 2008.