Govt depts hiding info on official land: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan revealed on Thursday that the government departments were hiding information on official land, as the government had decided to declare this a criminal offence and those, involved in it, will be put behind bars.

The premier was speaking here at an international housing conference. “Believe, we are the government and the departments are hiding information about their land and we learn afterwards that they own land. Now it has been decided to declare hiding of land information a criminal offence,” he remarked.

“We are asking the government departments to inform us about the location of their land and they are hiding it,” he noted. The prime minister noted that in Islamabad alone, land worth Rs500 billion had been recovered so far and there are groups of land grabbers across Pakistan. He agreed that construction of five million houses was a very difficult challenge, while Pakistan faces shortage of 10 million houses. The government, he continued, would not build houses, but would facilitate and create easiness for the private sector to get involved. “We aim at affordable housing through micro-financing and enable people in erstwhile tribal areas to build their houses,” he said.

The government, Imran Khan noted, was planning to establish a land bank to retrieve land from land grabbers and also the dead capital of government departments. He again said that the houses of the poor would not be demolished,rather these would be regularised.

He said that a major housing project would be launched next month as part of the government plan to provide five million housing units to the low income segments of the society. He noted that constructing five million houses was a cumbersome task but once initiated, the number of houses to be constructed would be increased every year.

The prime minister pointed out that the private sector would be involved in the project which, once said, would directly benefit 40 different industries related with the construction business. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed between Pakistan and the World Bank for cooperation in the housing sector during the conference. "The World Bank has itself decided to support the housing project," Imran Khan said.

"Positive response has also been received from overseas Pakistanis besides Chinese and Malaysian companies for the project," he explained. He noted that people in Pakistan paid far less tax and were leading in the world in giving charity because they did not trust the government. However, he was quite hopeful that people would now pay their due taxes as there was a credible government in the country.

The government, he noted, was working on regularisation of the slums in different cities, including Islamabad. Houses, flats and commercial centres will be constructed by developers following the models of Turkey and India. He regretted that Pakistan had become a country of the elite, who continued to be wealthier while the poor grew poorer.

Imran Khan emphasised again that new constructions in urban centres would be vertical to avert threat of food security. Meanwhile, central leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had an important meeting with Imran Khan here at the Prime Minister Office (PMO).

It has been officially stated that they had discussion about developmental projects in the province. The legislation business in the provincial assembly also came under discussion in the course of meeting but the sources pointed out that the two leaders whom are coalition partner in federal as well Punjab government had extensive discussion about the political developments in the county and especially in Punjab where the unrest is on rife within the ruling collation about incumbent chief minister Usman Buzdar.

The relief provided by the courts to the Sharif brothers has added the worries of the ruling alliance, the sources said. Pervaiz Elahi gave his candid analysis of political situation and briefed the prime minster about the complexities that could crop up in immediate future.

Pervaiz assured the prime minister that he will continue to support Usman Buzdar as chief minister. Meanwhile, a delegation of Capital Group, American financial services company, called on Prime Minister Imran Khan. The delegation included Michael Thawley, Political Economist Capital Group, Arthur Caye, Luis Freitas de Oliveira, Ric Torres, Stephen Green, Talha Khan and Wahid Butt.

Finance Minister Asad Umar, Adviser to PM on Commerce and Industry Abdul Razak Dawood, Governor Sindh Imran Ismail, Chairman BoI Haroon Sharif and senior officials were present during the meeting.

Capital Group is ranked among the world’s oldest and largest investment management organisations, with $1.89 trillion in assets under management.

Talking to the prime minister, Michael Thawley said that the improved security situation, policies and the seriousness of the current government towards economic revival have encouraged the company to explore business opportunities in Pakistan. The prime minister while welcoming Capital Group’s interest in Pakistan highlighted the present government’s reform agenda and various steps being taken to provide a conducive and business friendly environment to the investors.

The prime minister said that Pakistan having a population of over 200 million, with youth in majority, and the unique geo-strategic location offered a number of opportunities to the business community. He said that the government besides focusing on improving ease of doing business was striving for a mindset change so that the business community is facilitated to undertake lucrative business ventures. This, he continued, would enable the economy to expand and create job opportunities for our youth.