| ISLAMABAD-The Capital Development Authority besides passing another year could not start handing over possession to the allottees of Sector I-15, who are waiting to get their plots from the last many years.
The incumbent management led by the Chairman CDA Capitan (Retired) Noor-ul-Amin Mengal have failed to make any headway towards the sector development and I-15 is its classic example.
Though, the plots in Sector I-15 were allotted during the year 2005 but development activity remained suspended due to various reasons for many years.
Lastly, the city managers had claimed to start handing over the possession to plot owners in June 2022 followed by an announcement by the CDA in November 2022 of giving possession letters by the Prime Minister to a select of allottees in a ceremony.
A list of about 3000 plots ready for the possession in 3 subsectors of I-15 was also uploaded on the website of CDA but the authority could not start handing over their possession on ground.
Sources informed that about one hundred people submitted their applications for getting possession in said sector but they could not get their plot possession on ground so far by the authority.
On the other hand, sources inside the authority informed that the handing over of possession is mainly delayed due to missing services. They, however, informed that the authority has also decided to give possession through procuring the services of National University of Science and Technology (NUST) through online coordinates instead of old manual procedures.
They claimed that an agreement with NUST in this regard is expected soon and after that the possession will be handed over to the allottees, which means they will have to wait for another indefinite period of time.
Under the Islamabad city master plan, Sector I-15 is spread over 746 acres and located in Zone-I and it was supposed to be developed as a residential sector for low income groups.
In the original land use plan, the CDA was to create some 13,685 housing units including 5,685 plots of different sizes and 8,000 apartments, with the contract for infrastructure development awarded to Al-Khan in 2006 on a design-cum-construction basis.
After the contractor defaulted, the contract was rescinded. Later, a new bid was invited from international contracting firms and the Chinese firm CMEC quoted a price of Rs54 billion against the CDA’s estimated cost of Rs14 billion but the bid was rejected due to cost considerations.
During former president Asif Zardari’s visit to China in June 2012, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the CDA and a consortium of CMEC and CRFG over the development of Sector I-15.
However, the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and federal planning and finance divisions objected to the MoU and it expired in December 2012. Later, the CDA Board dumped its plans to build flats and went with the creation of more plots instead. By discarding the planned flats, the CDA enhanced the number of plots -- measuring 138 square yards -- from 3,454 to 7,738.
This scribe has tried to get a version of CDA’s Spokesperson Syed Safdar Ali but he was unavailable for his comments. |
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