Govt pushed for facilitating construction industry investors

Islamabad: Insisting the housing sector has great potential for growth due to the increasing demand of residential units, the Association of Builders and Developers has pushed the government for facilitating the local and foreigners wanting to put money in the $210 billion construction industry.

ABAD chairman Arif Yousuf Jeewa told reporters during the ABAD International Expo at a local hotel on Friday that there was a need for the development of construction industry as it promised a country higher economic growth.

He said the infrastructure development on the outskirts of major cities would help the construction of low-cost housing units. Mr Jeewa said the association had set a target of bringing $2 billion foreign investment to the country through Islamabad and Karachi expos with representatives of construction companies both from within the country and from China, Europe, Japan, Turkey, UAE, Singapore, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia showing up.

He said the ABAD would hold such an event in Lahore next year. The ABAD chairman said the government should encourage private developers and builders, especially their association, to further the national cause of providing the people with good and affordable shelters.

ABAD patron-in-chief Mohsin Sheikhani, who was also in attendance, said the housing sector could show tremendous development and expansion if the government helped private builders and developers invest in it through facilitation and better facilities.

He complained about bureaucratic hurdles for builders and developers and said many expatriates had initiated billions of rupees worth of housing projects in the country but suffered a lot as the relevant authorities hampered their projects instead of facilitating their execution.

“Having executed large-scale housing ventures abroad, many return just with the intent to contribute the development of the country which he basically belongs to. However, the unfriendly investment environment and regulations spoil their plans,” he said asking the government to ensure the facilitation of the construction industry investment.

Mr Sheikhani also called for master plans at all municipality levels from small towns to major cities and the strict compliance with them by the relevant authorities. He said the association had planned to build 0.1 million high-quality yet affordable residential units in Islamabad to meet the shortage of 12 million houses.

“We’ve the capacity to build new houses at the minimum possible rates but for that, we expect that the federal government and Islamabad’s administration will offer the required help and cooperation to smoothly execute our plan,” he said.

The ABAD patron-in-chief said the country’s housing sector had the $210 billion investment potential and therefore, the government should facilitate investors by reducing red tape and removing hurdles to land acquisition and NOC issuance to ensure a huge economic revolution in the country.

He said the ABAD was considering to acquire the housing schemes, which were duly approved by the government but weren’t executed for one reason or the other, to build low-cost houses without bureaucratic or other hurdles.

Mr Sheikhani said the low-cost housing was a very delicate subject as if not built on time, the construction of such residential units became unfeasible shattering the common man’s confidence in such schemes.

He said once the proposed low-cost project was successfully executed, other builders and developers would follow the ABAD. Colonel (r) Ghulam Murtaza, managing director of a housing society, said 70 per cent of Islamabad’s residents were without own housing and therefore, they rented houses and apartments.

“The acute housing shortage has led to the exploitation of poor renters by property owners and therefore, I strongly feel that the launch of more and more low-cost schemes can effectively address both the housing and exploitation issues,” he said.