The Capital Development Authority (CDA) would shortly initiate construction work on another Diplomatic Enclave in the federal capital to accommodate the embassies and foreign missions operating in residential areas.
A senior CDA official said on Friday that as many as 37 embassies and foreign missions are working in residential areas of the city in violation of CDA by-laws and vulnerable to security threats. He said new enclave would be far bigger than the existing one as the Authority has allocated 870 acres for the new Enclave while the existing one covers 764 acres.
He said the planning of the project has been completed and is yet in designing phase. The land allocated for the enclave has been acquired. However, a small village beside the site is yet to be acquired as it may pose security threats, what the official said is in process. The official said the survey of land has been started and construction work would be launched once the designing of the project completes.
He said the final approval of the project would be made under the revised master plan of the federal capital, the final draft of which has already been sent to the government for approval. He said there are a total 56 plots allotted to embassies, 37 are lying vacant despite many embassies have constructed their buildings in Diplomatic Enclave.
The embassies and foreign missions, functioning in residential areas, include embassies of Algeria, Norway, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, Hungary, Denmark, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Philippines, Belgium, Malaysia, Sudan, Oman, Libya, Brazil, Romania, Afghanistan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Holland, Korea, Portugal and Portugal (Chancery), British Council, Greece and visa office, Republic of Northern Cyprus, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Finland and Latvia, UNDP and UNO.
Once the work starts, it would take another three years for completion and added that it would have enough space to accommodate all the embassies and foreign missions working in residential areas. He said the foreign missions in residential areas have been converted into "Enclosed Restricted Area" (ERA) thus ensuring security.
At present, in the Capital City, around 795 houses are being used for commercial purposes in the residential areas of the capital. Of them 325 houses are being used for offices of different organisations, 87 as guesthouses, four as restaurants, 255 as schools and 124 for other businesses such as beauty parlors and clinics in different sectors.