Islamabad :Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has urged that CDA should amend its building bylaws in consultation with ICCI, developers, builders and other stakeholders in order to give boost to construction activities in the federal capital as its existing bylaws were not conducive for the construction industry to boom. He said that PM’s construction package was valid up to 31st December 2020 and urged that the government should consider extending it for one year that would enable the investors to take maximum benefit of it and generate more economic activities across the country. He said this while addressing a delegation of Traders Welfare Association, G-11 Markaz, Islamabad that visited ICCI led by President Aftab Gujjar. Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI, Qaiser Shah Secretary General TWA G-11 Markaz, Ch. Nadeem ud Din PTI Coordinator Islamabad Administration and Convener Islamabad Task Force, Zafar Iqbal Gujjar President, TWA G-10/4, Islamabad, Khalid Chaudhry and others were also present at the occasion.
Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that CDA was not giving title to the purchasers of apartments and flats constructed on upper portions of commercial plots as title was given only to the plot holders. But due to this situation, owners of apartments and flats were unable to avail bank financing as without title, banks were not giving them loans. He stressed that CDA should amend its laws to give title to the buyers of such apartments and flats. He said that the BCS department of CDA was issuing notices against additional storey in markets, which was a cause of great concerns. He said that demolishing additional storey in markets will cause great financial loss to the investors besides affecting the business activities. He stressed that instead of considering demolition, CDA should regularize all additional storey constructions with nominal charges so that business activities could flourish. He said that ICCI was working with CDA on SOPs for removal of encroachments from markets. He assured that ICCI will cooperate with TWA G-11 Markaz, Islamabad in resolving the key issues of their traders.
Speaking at the occasion, Aftab Gujjar President and Qaiser Shah Secretary General, TWA G-11 Makaz Islamabad stressed that CDA should urgently install streetlights in the G-11 Markaz as due to absence of streetlights, incidents of car thefts, mobile snatching and burglary in shops were on the rise in the area. They said that the G-11 Markaz was one of the major commercial areas of Islamabad and CDA should focus on its better development in order to facilitate the growth of business activities.