Islamabad: CDA fails to initiate development work in new industrial sector

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Fazal Sher
ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) has failed to initiate development of new industrial sector I-17 to boost economic and trade activities and generate employment opportunities in the federal capital. A CDA official told Daily Times that CDA had allocated Rs 100 million in the financial year budget 2008-09 and claimed several times that it would soon initiate development of new industrial estate in Islamabad. He said the industrial estate at Sector I-1-9 had no capacity for setting up new industries. “The industrial area in sector I-19 and I-10 has no capacity to establish more industries in that area,” he said. He said earlier CDA had made a plan to set up industrial estate at Sector I-12 but it was not implemented due to some unavoidable reasons. He said due delay in development of new industrial sector industrialists were facing with a number of problems. “If the CDA soon materialises its plan a number of foreign companies including telecom and IT sector would set up their industries in the federal capital,” he said. The official said Islamabad Chamber of Commerce (ICC) was making requests to CDA for the last several years to develop the new industrial estate, but the civic body highups paid no heed to this serious issue. “CDA has so far done nothing for the improvement industrial sector in Islamabad,” he said. He said trade was backbone of a country and if it did not flourish according to needs of modern era, unemployment multiplies in the country. “Unemployment gives birth to criminal activities, which disturbs the law and order situation,” he said. The official said during the last several years CDA had spent huge amount on non-productive work, while it took no steps for the development trade. CDA Public Relations Director General Mustafain Kazmi said the civic body was working on the plan to develop new industrial sector. The plan would be soon finalised and the development would be started in the near future,” he said.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg11_7