Leaving LDA City, LDA Avenue-1 incomplete
Amraiz Khan
Leaving 22,000 allottees of LDA City in the lurch, the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) management is going to construct 4,000 apartments over the chunk of land in LDA city.
Prime Minister Imran laid the foundation stone of the project on Friday.
The LDA has a very poor history of completion of its directly sponsored housing projects and residential schemes.
Johar Town and Jublee Town took 25 years for settlement of the incumbents while LDA Avenue-I and LDA City are still incomplete despite a lapse of 10 years and 20 years respectively.
Well-placed sources in LDA claimed that in the case of LDA City delay is a big scam. They said that scheme was launched in 2012 over an envisaged area of 53,000 Kanals in a joint venture with Private Development Partners.
And now after the passage of eight years, the LDA could plan over 33,000 kanals of land named: as Jinnah and Iqbal Sectors.
In pursuance of commitment and then directions by Apex court LDA was supposed to complete the road infrastructure work already allotted to contractor has been held up for want of land at many isolated locations and LDA is stagnant in action to get possession for various blocks and LDA access road towards Ferozpur road.
The tendering of underground electricity works, construction of grid stations and provision of Sui gas have not even started yet.
And above said delayed work would further cause a delay of four to five years to complete the project which is also non-compliance of the Apex court directions wherein the court gave target to LDA authorities to complete this project by June 2021.
At present it is 100 percent sure that LDA current management is unable to meet the target set by the Court.
The delay in the completion of LDA mega projects is mostly designed with ulterior motives to benefit the illegal stakeholders like property dealers and Qabza Mafia.
Due to extraordinary delay in completion of infrastructure complexity of approvals, the actual allottees are discouraged and as result, he/she sell out their files and plots to ‘Mafia’ on throwaway rates.
More the delay more the transfers and transactions of prices brings more business for the Mafia camouflaged in the LDA.
The estimated cost of each apartment has been worked out to be Rs2.7 million the same cost is to be received from the allottees. Last year LDA allotted a few Mega Projects following the true and transparent competitive process.
Resultantly 10 to 14 percent below the estimated cost, the works were allotted to big companies.
Had LDA pursued the same analogy of competitive bidding the cost of each apartment could be reduced to Rs. 2.5 million at least.
Unfortunately construction work of these apartments have been awarded to medium range firms at par with estimated cost of Rs. 2.7 million.
DG LDA Ahmed Aziz Tarar was contacted on his cell phone but his cell did not respond. A message regarding the news story was also left on his cell phone but to no avail.
