Majority of the investors in such housing schemes hail from lower-middle class households
SUKKUR: Recently, a news report of a housing scheme being owned by a politician from the ruling party was published in leading dailies. The same scheme is now under investigation by the National Accountability Bureau and courts on account of mismanagement and funds embezzlement. However, the scheme or the charges against it are not first of a kind, a plethora of such schemes often owned by politically influential personalities exist across the country. Many are launched on the land owned by the government, which is under the state’s ownership and are acquired without payment for housing schemes.
As these projects are mostly launched in the outskirts of the city and the countryside, public is lured into the dream of owning their own home or a piece of land in lieu of nominal sum, payable in easy installments. Yet many never see the light of the day. In many cases, the proprietors or the landlords disappear once they have received money from the buyers. Later, these schemes are declared illegal due to irregularities, leaving the investors with the tedious task of getting their money back or of instigating a legal action against the owners.
Unfortunately, majority of the investors in such housing schemes hail from lower-middle class households and hence, lack enough knowledge of a possible scam they are conned into. Therefore, it is important that the government and the building and development authorities develop a strong mechanism to track down these schemes and alongside increase awareness on how to check for the legality of a scheme.
Ammar Jillani
Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2017.
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