Construction of five million houses to start next month: PM

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the construction of five million houses will start next month. Addressing the International Housing Conference organized by the World Bank on Thursday, he said that the construction of houses is a difficult target and the task force is working hard in this regard. He said that the project would directly benefit 40 industries. “We want to complete our preparation before the launch of the program. For this reason, it is being launched from next month,” he said. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frn58kaF5iE The prime minister said that the task force would benefit from the experience of Singapore. “The housing project is for the poor. The cities are sprawling and there is dearth of facilities,” he said. PM Imran Khan said that lands were occupied in collusion with the administration in Islamabad. “We are the government. But the departments are not informing us about the state land,” he said. He said that the World Bank has itself decided to support the housing project. “Positive response has also been received from overseas Pakistanis besides Chinese and Malaysian companies for the project. The houses will be constructed by the private sector and the government will fully facilitate it.” The PM said that people in Pakistan pay less tax and more charity because they do not have trust over governments. He, however, hoped, that people will now pay their due taxes as there is a credible government in the country. The prime minister said that the government is going to launch a plan to regularize slums in different cities, including Islamabad. He said houses, flats and commercial centers will be constructed by developers following the models of Turkey and India. He said new construction in urban centers will be vertical to avert threat to food security. He said the task force will learn from Singapore Model about it. Imran Khan said the government also plans to establish a land bank retrieving land from land grabbers and also the dead capital of government departments. He said land worth five hundred billion rupees has so far been recovered from the land grabbers. He, however, clarified that the houses of the poor people will not be demolished under this campaign. The prime minister said affordable houses will be constructed in the tribal districts through micro-financing. He also thanked the World Bank for organizing the ceremony. On this occasion, a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between Pakistan and the World Bank for cooperation in the housing sector.