Study of Construction Project Delays due to Land Acquisition Issues and their Remedial Measures

Abstract

Public sector development projects play a key role in the development of a country. Timely and cost effective completion of these projects is crucial in order to obtain the project objectives. Other than a myriad of serious issues, public sector projects in Pakistan are facing land acquisition problems due to which not only delays and cost overruns occur, but some projects get terminated. Access to the land is the prime responsibility of the client and this study is mainly focused on the client perceptions regarding land related issues. A lot of work has been done internationally but very few articles can be found regarding Pakistan. This study is based on thirty two (32) semi-structured interviews of the experts from public sector clients along with detailed study of land acquisition act 1894 applicable in Pakistan. Study includes the cost and duration data of 17 projects from federal as well as provincial departments. Study revealed about nine major categories of the issues which can lead towards the land acquisition issues which include administrative issues, compensation related issues, planning related issues, L.A.A 1894 implementation issues, public related issues, financial issues, issues in revenue department, environment related issues and legal issues. Study also presents the remedies in view of the experts. Study also includes five case studies of the projects which face land acquisition related problems and confirm the authenticity of the results obtained through literature and interviews. The results have been interpreted using descriptive approach. At the end conclusions have been drawn from the obtained data and some recommendations have been made considering various stakeholders of the process which will decrease the land related issues in future.