Full-fledged LDA DG appointed

LAHORE : After almost a year, the Punjab government has posted a full-fledged Director General of Lahore Development Authority (LDA), relieving the commission of the additional assignment.

Lahore Development Authority’s new Director General is Tahir Farooq who took charge of the post here on Saturday. Tahir Farooq is a grade 19 officer of Pakistan Administrative Service and belongs to 38th Common.

Tahir Farooq has previously held important positions including Deputy Commissioner, Additional Deputy Commissioner, and Additional Secretary in various districts and departments. Commissioner Lahore Muhammad Ali Randhawa was given the additional charge of the post of DG LDA on March 8, 2023.

The new DG LDA has to face many challenges such as timely completion of the ongoing development projects by ensuring quality and cost escalation, enforcement and implementation of LDA’s Building Rules and Regulations, menace of illegal housing societies, which were gulping huge hard-earned money of the citizens, issues related to the approved private housing societies, which were not constructed as per their passed plans and illegal land subdivisions in the LDA’s jurisdiction. Tahir Farooq also has to deal with the mafias of contractors who didn’t allow others to enter in the ring, the issues of alleged corruption and illegal appointments at LDA’s sports complexes, the quality of the ongoing development projects, and forensic audit of the already completed development projects, which were completed during the caretaker regime and it was alleged that quality of material used in these projects was compromised.

The new DG LDA has to look into the matter of the housing directorate where he can find a huge number of cases in which people have spent decades to get their plots in the LDA’s housing schemes. The ongoing LDA City was one of the best examples of this fact as people got plots after over a decade and many were in the waiting line.

Another major issue, the new DG LDA will face is sifting of the record of LDA’s housing schemes. Presently the sifting of records of Johar Town was going on and LDA authorities were facing huge pressure to stop this process because of the stakes of several powerful politicians and personalities. The record of other LDA schemes was yet to be computerised. Tahir Farooq has to deal with the ongoing spree of high-rise buildings, which were under construction in several posh localities of the city and allegedly have violated building by-laws in connivance with the corrupt mafia within the authority. Illegal construction as well as commercial construction on non-commercial roads was also one of the important issues, the new DG has to face.

Increase in LDA’s revenue, ensuring parking agreements, dealing with encroachments, ensuring clearance of model roads, helping citizens at the LDA’s one-window cell, dealing with the corruption mafia within the authority, and keeping an open door policy will be the other tasks he has to face with.

LDA officials said that after assuming the charge, the new DG LDA called a meeting of all wings of LDA and got briefings about respective wings. DG LDA Tahir Farooq also issued necessary instructions to the officers.

Chief Engineer LDA Israr Saeed gave a briefing about the ongoing and proposed development projects in the city. Director General LDA Tahir Farooq said that concrete measures have to be taken to prevent illegal constructions and building control should be strictly enforced.

Director General LDA Tahir Farooq said the efficiency of One Window Cell has to be further improved and performance will be evaluated daily. He said that the officers themselves will be responsible for the working of their departments and their staff and service delivery and public feedback will be the yardstick for evaluating officers' performance.

DG LDA Tahir Farooq said that LDA will be made an exemplary institution as per the vision of Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz and warned that all officers and staff have to work day and night to improve the service delivery and image of LDA.