Naib City Nazim Nasreen Jalil has said that 100 percent area of the city should be under the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) so that the development work should be run with a proper plan.
Speaking at the inaugural session of a three-day International Property Exhibition and Conference (IPEC) at the Karachi Expo Centre here on Friday, she said that now only 30 percent of the city area is under CDGK and the remaining 70 percent is under other government establishments. She was of the view that one establishment could work easily in a city and the development of Karachi could be done properly.
She said Karachi is a mega-city and it generates more than 73 percent of the total revenue of the country, but Karachi was not being provided its due share.
Nasreen Jalil disclosed that the CDGK is working to prepare a "city master plan" to improve the infrastructure in the city. "There was no master plan and no body knew about the system and location of underground sewerage lines and other utility service lines", she said and added that this was a major hurdle for development work in the city.
She said that after completion of this city's master plan, everything would be cleared and the digging process for development work would be easy to carry on. On the other hand, the underground system would not be damaged, she added.
Regarding the ongoing development work in Karachi, she said that the CDGK has announced Rs 43 billion budget for the year 2006-07 and the work on many projects is in progress. She said that Rs 50 million has been given to every town in the city for development work without any discrimination.
Speaking on the occasion, Zaigham Rizvi, Chairman, House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC) said that there was a shortfall of over seven million housing units in the country. He said that around 50 percent of Karachi comprised katchi ababdies in which people are living without any proper plan and facilities. He said that HBFC has planned to build a housing scheme on 100 acres in Karachi to provide more homes to the citizens at reasonable cost.
Asim Siddiqui, Chief Executive Officer, Events Unlimited, said that the event would encourage more investment in the country in the real estate industry. Haji Rafiq Pardesi, Vice Chairman, Al-Ghurair Giga and others also spoke on this occasion.