Imran breaks ground for 20,000 housing units

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday performed the ground-breaking for the construction of 20,000 housing units in seven projects at the cost of Rs100 billion for low-income groups and salaried people in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Quetta.

Among the projects being initiated under the present government’s flagship Naya Pakistan Housing Programme, six pertained to the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA), whereas one would be executed by the Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation (PHAF).

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said the government had made huge efforts for starting the construction of five million houses in the country as the initiative often drew criticism from the political opponents. “But now after the breakthrough and path-finding, the journey has started towards realisation of this initiative,” he added.

Khan also expressed his pleasure over the decision of Lahore High Court regarding the foreclosure laws, saying the LHC judgment would bring a revolution in the housing sector through increased financing by the banks.

In the West, he said, bank loaning facility was being extended for the construction of residential houses at affordable rates. “The percentage of mortgage facility for housing in Pakistan stood at mere 0.2 per cent as against 80 per cent in the United States and the United Kingdom, 30 per cent in Malaysia and 12 per cent in India.”

The Prime Minister said as inflation had started easing out, it would also bring down the interest rates. He said in line with the government’s vision of ease of doing business, all impediments in the way of the construction industry had been removed, and that was why the FGEFH had been made an authority through legislation.

Khan said as the government employees, particularly the class four employees and police personnel, could not construct their own houses with salaries, the government could arrange bank financing for them. He said attention was never paid to such issues in the past.

Affordable housing would target those people and would also benefit 40 industries allied with the construction sector, creating job opportunities and pushing economic growth.

Describing 2020 as the year of economic growth and jobs creation, the Prime Minister said cities were being expanded which gave rise to serious issues like pollution, lack of basic facilities and food security. He said the government had decided to implement master plans for the urban areas.