Govt to build homes on land retrieved from ‘mafia’: Gill

By News Desk

LAHORE: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Shehbaz Gill has said homes for the poor will be constructed on land retrieved from the “land mafia” in different parts of Punjab.

Talking to the media in Punjabi after appearing in a defamation case here on Saturday, he said the government would provide easy loans to the poor to build homes on the land worth “billions of rupees” which had been vacated from the alleged land mafia in Lahore and other cities.

Gill said: “No Khokhar or Jati Umra Palaces, but homes for the poor will be built on the retrieved land. The government is not only opposed to the land mafia but their patrons as well.”

He was referring to the demolition of a residence belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers Saiful Malook and Mir Afzal Khokhar, whose property was razed in a Punjab government operation to reclaim “government land”.

To a question, Gill said PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz was right in claiming that former MPA Saiful Malook Khokhar was an asset of the party, adding that only “dacoits and land grabbers could be the investors of the PML-N”.

To another question, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan was averse to financial dealings in politics, adding that he had made it clear prior to his election victory that he would not shake hands with the “corrupt and looters of public money”. To a query, Gill said the Prime Minister had opted for the difficult path of bringing the “corrupt political elite” to the book, adding that the opposition parties would worship Prime Minister Khan if “34 clauses” of amendments to NAB laws were agreed upon by the government.