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KARACHI: Chairman Consumers Association of Pakistan (CAP) Kaukab Iqbal has expressed serious concern over the rapidly increasing number of residential and commercial real estate projects being advertised in Karachi and across the country, and called upon the government to introduce immediate and effective legislation to protect citizens’ lifelong savings and take strict action against unapproved projects. Kaukab Iqbal said that a large number of real estate advertisements were currently being published and aired, promoting new projects and attracting consumers through offers of cars, prizes, discounts and other incentives. However, an ordinary citizen often has no easy way of determining which builder is legally operating, which project has been approved by the relevant authority, and whether the developer actually possesses the required land and legal permissions. He said that construction, housing and real estate activities were essential for economic growth, but economic activity could not be allowed to take place at the expense of consumers’ hard-earned savings. There have been instances where citizens paid substantial amounts for properties, only for projects to remain incomplete, possession to be delayed or their investments to become stuck for years. The CAP Chairman said the government must first establish an effective regulatory framework for all builders and developers and no person or company should be permitted to launch, advertise, book or collect money from the public for a residential or commercial project without obtaining complete approval from the relevant authority. He demanded that every real estate advertisement must prominently display the Approval Number, No-Objection Certificate (NOC) number and date of approval issued by the competent authority. Where a project falls under the jurisdiction of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), a Development Authority or any other competent institution, these details must be clearly mentioned in the advertisement so that consumers can verify the legal status of a project before investing their money. Kaukab Iqbal said that verification of land ownership and the actual area of land must be made mandatory before any project is launched. Regulatory authorities should verify that the developer possesses sufficient land and legal rights for the project being advertised and ensure that multiple projects are not being marketed on the basis of the same land or inadequate land holdings. He further called for clear regulations governing claims made in real estate advertisements, including prize schemes, cars, discounts and other incentives. Any misleading or false claim should result in strict action against both the developer and the concerned advertising or marketing agency. Dubai-Style Escrow Account System Essential The CAP Chairman called upon the government to introduce a Dubai-style Escrow Account System for real estate projects in Pakistan. He said that when a consumer purchases an apartment, house, bungalow, shop or any other property, the money paid by the buyer should not go directly into the builder’s account. Instead, it should be deposited into a regulated Escrow Account under the supervision of an authorised government or regulatory institution. He said payments should subsequently be released to the developer in stages and strictly according to independently verified construction progress. This would protect the buyer’s money while ensuring that the developer remains financially committed to completing the project according to the approved schedule. Kaukab Iqbal also called for the establishment of a Centralised Digital Real Estate Registry containing complete and updated information about approved projects, developers, land ownership, NOCs, approval numbers, construction progress and expected completion dates. He said this information should be easily accessible to the public through an online portal, enabling both Pakistani citizens and overseas Pakistanis to verify the legal status of a project before investing their money. He further demanded that a public record and blacklist of developers violating consumer and regulatory laws be maintained. Developers who cause financial losses to consumers, abandon projects or repeatedly violate legal requirements should face substantial penalties, legal proceedings and, where warranted, restrictions on launching new projects. Kaukab Iqbal said that where a project fails to meet its approved completion schedule, consumers should have a clear legal right to refunds, compensation and other appropriate remedies. A dedicated consumer real estate dispute-resolution mechanism or fast-track tribunal should also be established so that affected citizens are not forced to spend years pursuing their claims through lengthy legal proceedings. He said that before approving major real estate projects, the competent authorities should conduct due diligence regarding the developer’s legal status, land ownership rights, financial capacity and track record of previous projects. Buyers must also be provided, before booking, with complete written information regarding the project’s legal approvals, total price, payment schedule, construction timeline, expected possession date and all terms and conditions. Kaukab Iqbal particularly stressed the need to protect overseas Pakistanis who invest in the country’s real estate sector. He said they should be provided with a transparent online system through which they can independently verify a project’s approvals, land ownership, NOC, developer status and construction progress instead of relying solely on agents or representatives. The CAP Chairman made it clear that Consumers Association of Pakistan is not against construction or the real estate business; it is against non-transparent, unapproved and potentially harmful practices that put consumers’ hard-earned money at risk. He said developers who comply with all legal requirements and operate transparently should be facilitated and encouraged by the government. However, those who collect money from the public through unapproved, unclear or questionable projects must face strict and impartial action. Kaukab Iqbal urged the government to make the principle of “First verify the land and approvals, then announce the project, then advertise and accept bookings — while keeping the buyer’s money protected in an Escrow Account” an integral part of the law. “Citizens’ lifelong savings cannot be left at the mercy of irresponsible or fraudulent builders. The government must act immediately to protect real estate consumers, restore public confidence and ensure that every property investment is transparent, lawful and secure.”

Five designers, one photographer, one heritage venue: Deepak Perwani, Wardha Saleem, Khaadi, The Pink Tree Company and Sana Safinaz turned Karachi into a five-part fashion portrait. KARACHI, SEPTEMBER 26, 2026: LAAM Fashion Week (LFW) closed the second edition of LFW Presents tonight in Karachi with Kaleidoscopic Karachi, a five-designer runway showcase staged inside the historic Nusserwanjee Building at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture (IVS). The evening brought together Deepak Perwani, Wardha Saleem, Khaadi, The Pink Tree Company and Sana Safinaz, and opened with an archival exhibition by photographer Tapu Javeri. It was the format’s first edition outside Lahore. Kaleidoscopic Karachi was built around a simple idea: that Karachi does not read as a single image. Across the evening, the five presentations moved between the polished and the artisanal, the historic and the contemporary, the glamorous and the craft-first. Together, they read as a portrait of the city in fragments, and of a fashion industry that has never needed to sound like one voice to speak with authority. Speaking at the event, Saad Ali, CEO & Founder of Design651 and Co-Founder of LAAM Fashion Week, highlighted the importance of having an ecosystem of fashion and the decision to bring it to Karachi. “A brand-led Pakistan cannot be built inside two runway weeks a year. It needs a year-round ecosystem where designers, brands and craftspeople are given the room, the settings and the audiences to build lasting equity,” Saad said. “That is what LFW Presents was created to do, and Kaleidoscopic Karachi is the format doing exactly that outside Lahore for the first time. When Pakistani fashion is placed inside a venue that holds the city’s own story, and given the industry weight it deserves, its impact reaches far beyond a single evening. That is the standard we intend to hold to for every edition.” The evening opened with Tapu Javeri – A Four-Decade Fashion Retrospective, an immersive exhibition drawn from the archive of one of Pakistan’s most influential fashion photographers and defining visual chroniclers of Karachi. Spanning decades of Pakistani fashion and the city around it, the exhibition set the tone for the runway that followed, tracing the visual memory of Karachi’s fashion history through Javeri’s lens. The runway then came alive with the presentations and the grand finale. Deepak Perwani’s Cocktail Hour opened the evening as an ode to the historic glamour of Karachi. The clubs, the after-hours, the sensuality the metropolis embodied through the mid-1970s. Perwani translated that memory through svelte silhouettes, sparkle, glitter and an alluring capsule that dressed the city’s past for its present. In a moment that landed as pure Karachi legacy, supermodels of the 80s, Frieha Altaf, Seemi Pasha and Atiya Khan, walked the collection as a living tribute to the era it celebrated. Wardha Saleem followed with Bander Road Se Kemari, a tactile, street-alive reading of the city. The collection paid ode to centuries of Karachi’s architecture: colonial buildings and their balconies, regal motifs, the quiet grandeur of monuments woven into the city skyline. Hip, streetwear-adjacent and modern-luxe in feel, Saleem’s work carried the built city onto the body, turning cornice, arch and facade into cut, drape and print. Actress, model, and the showstopper for the collection, Areeba Habib, walked the runway in elegance, draped in a stunning gold and green lehenga! The Pink Tree Company, a craft-based luxury brand, presented Hands That Craft, a homage to Karachi and to the crafts that built the country’s fashion industry. The collection brought together textile, block print, dye, embroidery, gota and kaamdani, a bouquet of artistries carrying millennia of human excellence into a single runway moment. The showstopper, Aliya Iqbal Naqvi, graced the runway in a colorful lehenga! Staged inside Nusserwanjee, itself a feat of the city’s creative minds, the presentation read as a case for the hand: for craft that no technology can imitate or replace, and for a city that refuses to be subdued. Khaadi presented Karachi – It’s Complicated, a collection built on the dichotomies the city is known for: the love and the hate, the chaos and the quiet. The tension translated literally onto the runway through contrasting colours, woven fabrics and stark, raving prints. The collection’s showstopper and model, Eman Suleman, walked the runway in a striped black and white top with colorful embellishment and a black flowy skirt with pink floral print. Chapter 2 flowed into the presentation, bringing Khaadi’s designer language into direct conversation with its street-facing energy. Together, the four presentations revealed the many visual languages of the city — its colour, contradiction, craft and constant reinvention. For Maheen Kardar, Executive Director Designer Experience and Curation, LFW Presents, that was precisely the point of bringing Kaleidoscopic Karachi to life: “We are all here today for one thing and that is fashion. This time, LFW Presents a conversation with the city that I love and hold close to my heart. Karachi for us is the city in which so much of the industry was born. This is where so much of the fashion resides. It is love, it is layered, and it is endlessly generous! It is truly a Kaleidoscope; and this is what we are seeing on the runway tonight.” The finale closed with Sana Safinaz’s Mastaani, the label’s high-end luxury couture and festive line, walked by 20 models. Regal, avant-garde silhouettes met traditional heritage and modern aesthetic in equal measure. Fluid drapes, couture lehengas and statement pieces carried a quiet, graceful rhythm across the runway! Model Javeria Hanif, and also the showstopper for the finale collection walked the ramp draped in a black veil, wearing a heavily embellished gold blouse, paired with a stunning black lehenga and a red dupatta, closing the evening with the cinematic weight the collection was built for. Off the runway, the evening drew an equally dynamic crowd, bringing together some of the city’s most recognisable names from fashion, entertainment, media and the creative industries. Celebrities, fashion icons, designers, stylists, influencers and socialites mingled with digital and news media, corporate

Karachi, Sep 25, 2026: Abdul Hadi has been elected unopposed as President of the SITE Association of Industry, as the new leadership unveiled an action plan to fast-track industrial grievances, including a digital complaint-tracking system and construction on the long-delayed Industry House project. Muhammad Farhan Ashrafi was elected Senior Vice President, while Shahryar Saleem Shah was elected Vice President. The President-elect Abdul Hadi said the digital complaint-tracking system would enable members to register complaints and monitor progress on their resolution. The Association would also pursue the issues with relevant government institutions to ensure effective and timely action. SAI Patron-in-Chief Zubair Motiwala called for an immediate end to power outages and unannounced load-shedding by K-Electric, stressing that uninterrupted electricity supply was essential for sustaining industrial production. He said key industrial issues had been raised at the recent SITE Limited Board meeting, with proposals for their resolution to be presented at the next meeting for approval. SITE Association Patron Saleem Parekh congratulated the newly elected office-bearers and appreciated the services of the outgoing leadership. He said it was a matter of pride that former office-bearers continue to play an active role in Association activities. Earlier, at the 62nd Annual General Meeting (AGM), Election Commission Chairman Muhammad Tariq Yousuf announced the successful candidates, all of whom were elected unopposed. The newly elected Executive Committee comprises Muhammad Kamran Arabi, Muhammad Saleem Nagaria, Abdul Qadir Bilwani, Muhammad Hussain Moosani, Haris Shakoor, Murtaza Ejaz Saya, Syed Haseeb Ahmed, Nadeem Polani and M. Bilal Naseer. Senior industrial leaders Jawed Bilwani, Majid Aziz, Younis Bashir, Suleman Chawla, Riaz Uddin and immediate past President Abdul Rahman Fudda also addressed the meeting.