A group of 39 probationary officers of Pakistan Administrative Service (District Management Group) visited the office of Lahore Development Authority (LDA) in connection with the 35th specialized training program on Friday.
LDA Additional Director General (Housing) Muhammad Usman briefed the officers about the organisation, functions, performance and future planning of LDA, and its subordinate agencies Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) as well as Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (TEPA) for the development of infrastructure in the provincial metropolis, at this occasion, disclosed a LDA's spokesperson.
He informed the delegation that LDA One Window Cell has been instrumental in expeditious disposal of petitions of the people. "Instead of running after the officials concerned in the main office building, applicants have been asked to come to the 'One Window Cell' for ensuring quick action on their requests. For this purpose, representatives of the rank of Assistant Directors belonging to all the directorates of LDA have been posted in 'One Window Cell'. The Director of 'One Window Cell' is there to serve them. The directors concerned of the Land Development, Estate Management and Town Planning Directorates have all been made responsible for seeing the applicants at the 'One Window Cell', as and when required," he added.
He further told them that in an effort to safeguard the proprietary rights of owners and to curb incidents of forgery and instances of sale of plots on fake transfer letters, Lahore Development Authority has introduced security featured documents.
According to him, as many as 13 property documents, including allotment letter, allocation letter, commercialisation, ownership requisition, transfer letter, permission to mortgage, physical possession, possession order, entitlement Performa, completion certificate, exchange letter, sanction plan and exemption letter, etc, are being issued on security featured papers by LDA. The specially designed security featured paper, being used for this purpose, is foolproof and contains such security characteristics, which are not visible with naked eye. Besides the barcode, MCS fibre paper, manufacturing watermark with hologram and 3D images, these papers carry such dedicated and secure features which make them impregnable for any counterfeit. This security paper carries a life of more than 100 years and neither it is available in market nor can it be counterfeited. In Pakistan, only government printing press has the right to prepare and use such paper. To ensure elimination of counterfeit at all levels, all property documents as well as their office copies too, shall be prepared and issued on this security paper. As a result of preparation of property related documents by LDA on security papers, it has become impossible for land mafia to reproduce, temper with or forge such documents, he added.
Chief Metropolitan Planner (CMP) Lahore Development Authority Waseem Ahmed Khan informed the visiting officers about the salient features of the integrated Master Plan of Lahore.