Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Chairman of Real Estate Developers Association of Punjab Hassan Syed on Tuesday said bureaucracy is hurting construction sector for personal gains which should be noticed. Thousands of residential schemes are awaiting NOCs since years which is not only resulting in colossal losses to the investors but it is also hitting dozens of industries related to construction sector while depriving millions of jobs.
Talking to reporters here, Hassan Syed who is also former Chairman of the FPCCI’s Regional Standing Committee on Real Estate Development said that district administration Sargodha has blocked the transfer and registration of property, electricity, gas and water connections of 137 residential schemes while the number of such schemes in the province run in thousands.
Transfers are banned but patwaris would do it after getting a bribe of two to five lakh rupees which is resulting in heavy losses to the government, he said, adding that the estimated loss to the government in only one district Sargodha is almost 6 to 8 crore rupees daily.
He informed that issuing NOC to the residential schemes is responsibility of the District Planning and Design Committee which should convene weekly meeting but the committee has failed to hold even one meeting over the last two years for obvious reasons.
The attitude of district administration is hitting builders, developers, investors, commoners who have invested a lifetime savings for buying a plot for expatriates who have invested in it, he said. Syed said that the government will earn billions while millions would get employment if the schemes are regularised and it will boost over 70 industries linked to the construction sector.
He said that the government should take note of the situation to stop the malpractices as a shortage of supply of legal plots in the market have been causing a hike in the prices which is not in the interest of masses.
He said that misuse of power should be discouraged so that the economy which has been badly hit by the coronavirus can be revived.
