Soon after taking charge as prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani had announced the construction of one million new low-cost residences across the country to facilitate citizens. However, three years on, the government has not even constructed a fraction of the proclaimed number of housing units.
According to official documents available with The Express Tribune, the government was supposed to construct 200,000 housing units annually, but to date, housing schemes for only 3,000 residential units have been launched, most of which are still under construction.
Had the government implemented the policy statement in letter and spirit, there would have been an addition of at least 650,000 housing units in the country.
The documents reveal that the Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA) has itself launched only seven housing schemes comprising of 1,000 residential units across the country since 2008, while two other schemes comprising of 2,000 housing units have been launched by PHA as joint ventures. The majority of housing schemes are currently under construction.
In November 2008, PHA launched a housing scheme comprising of 400 D-type houses in Islamabad’s Sectors G-11/3 and another in G-10/2 comprising 368 D-type housing units. Around 90 per cent of work on these housing schemes has been completed.
In January 2009, PHA launched a housing scheme in Wafaqi Colony Lahore comprising of 60 units, following which it launched two additional scheme in the same colony in September 2010 and January 2011 respectively, comprising 60 D and E-type flats. Around 90 per cent, 11 per cent and 13 per cent work has been completed on the three housing schemes respectively. The authority also launched a housing unit in Shabbir Town, Lahore in May 2008, comprising of 32 flats.
The housing schemes launched by PHA in joint ventures with private construction companies include the construction of 718 residential units in Gulshan-e-Maymar, Karachi in May 2010 in collaboration with Maymar Construction Company, 25 per cent of which has been completed so far. While its latest joint-venture, with Al-Khalil Construction Company, is a housing scheme comprising 1,100 residential units in Turbat, Balochistan - for which 22 percent work has been completed so far.
A senior official of the Ministry of Housing and Works, requesting anonymity, said that lack of funds and initiative on part of the government is the key hurdle in the implementation of the programme. “It seems that the Prime Minister made the announcement in haste without keeping in view the ground reality as it is not possible to construct one million housing units in such a short span of time.”
The official said that housing should not be duty of the government; rather, the government should facilitate the private sector to come forward and invest in the sector. Due to the involvement of the government in the construction sector prices of real estate have increased drastically, due to which the poor segment of the society are becoming victims of this bureaucratic hurdle.
The official cited the recent example of the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) Park Enclave housing scheme, where plots are available at over Rs10 million, while an adjacent private scheme of Bahria Enclave provide similar plots at Rs6 million. “Such policies of the government have badly affected the construction sector and the results trickle down to over 70 other interlinked sectors,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 12th, 2011.
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