ISLAMABAD:Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Monday assured to remove encroachments from markets in collaboration with traders associations to facilitate business activities in the federal capital.
Talking to Fawad Waheed, Senior Vice President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI),
Shahjahan Khan, Deputy Director General (Enforcement) CDA assured that he would take trade associations of concerned markets on board to remove the encroachments as their removal would be beneficial for the traders and revive the beauty of the federal capital.
He said that the Capital city was the face of Pakistan, but rising encroachments were creating problems for the business community and affecting the beauty of the city.
He said that CDA had already done the survey of many markets to identify the violations as the civic body had adopted a zero-tolerance policy against encroachments and added that representatives of Market Associations should share their contact numbers with Enforcement Directorate so that they could be taken on board to address this major issue in markets.
He said that three types of encroachments including pushcarts by outsiders in markets, violations by shopkeepers and constructions would be addressed by taking stakeholders on board.
He said that efforts are being made to remove the pushcarts set up under Ahsaas Program from markets to a separate location.
He said that the CDA was working on a plan to remove all showrooms from markets to move them to suitable locations as these were creating nuance in the markets. He said that CDA had adopted the policy of publishing advertisements in print media and a campaign on electronic media would also be run on various issues including removal of encroachments.
Speaking on the occasion Faad Waheedn said that the business community is facing great problems due to rising encroachments in markets and under CDA to take urgent measures to address this major issue.
He said that before launching operation against encroachments in any market, CDA should take the concerned traders association on board to resolve this issue amicably.
He urged the CDA to make one market as a model example for removal of encroachments, adding that the traders associations of all markets are ready to cooperate with CDA in this campaign as it is in the interest of traders.