Rawalpindi: Plan to build Complex and Business Centre shelved

[Naveed Yaseen]

Saeed Ahmed
Like many other projects, including the much-trumpeted Ring Roads, the plan to build Complex and Business Centre at the site of old Wasa and RDA office has also been reportedly dropped.

According to official sources, the RDA Complex plan would not be implemented and the project has been dropped. Interestingly, an amount of Rs10 million was allocated for this project in the RDA’s annual budget for the year 2008-2009.

The plan to convert the old building of RDA/Wasa was proposed by the then director general Parvaiz Mahmood Khan in 2006 in the master plan of the authority. However, since then its construction had remained a dream and the project has never been implemented.

Instead of starting work on RDA Complex-cum-Business Centre, the old building of the authority was converted into the office of district council naib nazim. Some of the sections of the RDA which could not be accommodated in the new office due to shortage of space have also been shifted to the old building.

The conversion of old building of RDA into Complex and Business Centre would have enabled the authority to generate huge funds but the then provincial government headed by Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi never considered this project seriously for implementation.

According to the sources, even the new provincial government has also given its cold response, forcing the RDA to drop out the plan.

RDA Director General Makeen Shahbaz commenting on the issue gave a bureaucratic response without refuting the reports. He said that the project has been shifted to Committee Chowk where RDA would build up a Business Community Centre.

He said that RDA after inauguration of Elevated Express by the chief minister would start work on Business Community Centre near Committee Chowk to generate revenue.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=136570