ISLAMABAD: A delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry led by its President Sheikh Amir Waheed visited CDA Headquarters to congratulate Usman Akhtar Bajwa on being appointed as Chairman CDA.
Addressing the delegation, Usman Akhtar Bajwa said that Islamabad was facing many problems as there was no long-term strategy or plan in CDA for the development of residential and industrial areas in the federal capital. However, he said that he would prioritize the issues according to their importance and take measures to address them. He said he would try to utilize IT and technology to bring efficiency and improvement in the performance of CDA and to provide online services to people. However, he said that he needed the cooperation and support of business community for development of markets and industrial areas.
Usman Akhtar Bajwa said that CDA byelaws and rules have become outdated and needed upgradation to bring them in line with the current day requirements. He said he would like to work with ICCI on three priority areas i.e. improving the environment, better development of market places and improving sanitation in Islamabad. He said CDA was not an authority to rule over the lives of people and he would work to transform CDA into a service delivery organization to provide smart services to the citizens. He assured that he would continue to interact with ICCI for redress of key issues of business community and for the better development of Islamabad as it was the face of Pakistan.
Speaking at the occasion, Sheikh Amir Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry congratulated Usman Akhtar Bajwa on being appointed as Chairman CDA and hoped that he would turn CDA into a smart organization to deliver better services to the people. He highlighted key issues of the business community for urgent redress. He said that the local business community was facing great problems in renewal of leases of commercial plots and CDA should streamline this process. He said all commercial leases should be extended up to 99 years that would enable business community to focus on better promotion of business activities. He said CDA should allow multiple trades on industrial plots except for negative list as current procedure of change of trade was a hindrance in promoting business activities.
Nisar Mirza Vice President ICCI, Tariq Sadiq, Mian Akram Farid, Mian Shaukat Masud, Khalid Iqbal Malik, Zafar Bakhtawari, Ch. Waheed ud Din, Fareedun Khattak, Nasir Qureshi, Ahmed Mughal, Khalid Chaudhry, Raja Abdul Majeed and Mehmood Warraich also spoke at the occasion and highlighted various issues of business community. It was pointed out that CDA should focus on better development of industrial areas and markets and provide facilities like filtration plants, streetlights, public toilets, carpeting of roads, repair of footpaths, improvement of sanitation and sewerage systems in business areas to facilitate the growth of business activities.
