LAHORE: “Dealing with Construction Permits” is a surmounting task for Pakistani business community and slowing down the smooth running of businesses. There is a dire need for more automation and streamlining the LDA procedures in line with the best country in “Dealing with Construction Permits” where it takes only 72 days and 11 procedures to get the construction permit of a warehouse.
“Political leadership of the province will have to take the ownership of Doing Business Indicators related to the province of Punjab for the improvement of Business Climate in the province, the LCCI President Almas Hyder said in a statement here on Tuesday.
He said that Pakistan’s performance is below the par in the indicator of “Dealing with Construction Permits” where the country is at 166th place as compared to Hong Kong and China who are occupying 1st position.
The LCCI President said that LDA did not pay any heed to the reform agenda presented by LCCI in various meetings with LDA regarding “Dealing with Construction Permits”. As a consequence, he said, the LDA was not able to reduce its number of procedures (20) and time for getting the construction permit of a warehouse (266 days).
He said that business community of Pakistan has to follow 20 procedures which take 266 days to deal with while no of procedures and time are 11 and 72 days respectively in Hong Kong and China.
Almas Hyder recommended that certification of architects/civil engineers registered with Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) should be sufficient for LDA to issue construction permits. LDA and PEC should regulate the professional architects/civil engineers to ensure professionalism and integrity. He said that LDA should oversee the effectiveness of these registered engineers.
The LCCI President suggested that electronic One Window Operation at LDA should be established and automation of construction permits should be completed at LDA, including electronic submission of application. He said that reform program of LDA should be designed for TMAs. He said that representatives from private sector should be included in TMA’s High Level Design Committee and its sub committee and their weekly meetings should be arranged to deal with the backlog.
Almas Hyder recommended that automation of urban land record on Land Record Management Information System should be expedited. He said that court proceedings or stay orders, if any, should be displayed at Land Record Management Information System. He further stated that all rules, regulations and procedures for dealing with construction permits should be listed and placed on one website.
The LCCI President demanded that commercialization fee of land should be eliminated and zoning should be clearly de-marked so that conversion is not needed. All stakeholders should be added in committee which decides zoning for commercial and industrial activities. He said that water and sewerage connections should be provided automatically within 30 days of approval of construction permits.
