Govt to engage private sector in Naya Pakistan Housing project

Aleem says step will help support private sector and encourage them to invest in this sector

LAHORE: The Punjab government has sought cooperation from private sector for construction low-cost houses for Prime Minister’s Naya Pakistan Housing (NPHS) project.

Senior Punjab Minister Abdul Aleem Khan underlined that private sector could play a vital role in construction of five million housing units.

Talking to the members of Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD), who called on him on Sunday to appraise him of the Punjab government’s performance and highlight their industry’s issues, Aleem Khan said private sector should come forward as it was going to happen for the first time in the country’s history that such a huge number of housing units were being constructed. It was a great opportunity for the private sector though they would also have to face some challenges too, he maintained.

He told ABAD members that Prime Minister Imran Khan was determined to provide poor people their own houses and for this purpose comprehensive planning was being done. “In the housing and construction sector,” he highlighted, “a lot of work is to be done, especially in big cities work has already been started on the establishment of new by-laws.” The minister said it would help in supporting private sector and encourage them to invest in this sector, he added.

Aleem Khan indicated that permission for the construction of multi-storey buildings would be granted while housing mortgage facility would also be implemented on the model of Europe and America. The government was going to introduce uniform and secure polices for housing sector that would create competition and develop the construction sector.

He asked the ABAD members to share their experiences with the government and help in resolving housing sector issues. He underscored that collective meeting of the government taskforce and the ABAD members could play an effective role for Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme.

Aleem Khan said common man has great hopes with Imran Khan and especially with the housing program so the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has to make fool proof arrangements and untiring efforts to make this project a success.

ABAD members, including Gohar Ejaz, Akbar Sheikh, Ayoub Azhar, Sheraz Munnoo, Kamran Shuja and Sajid Saeed, informed the senior minister about the problems related to housing and construction sectors. They highlighted that they were in close contact with the government agencies but resolution of their problems was being delayed for unknown reasons. They also highlighted problems being faced by housing sector and proposed some solution.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, ABAD Chairman Mohammad Hassan Bakshi underlined that construction was the only sector which could bring industrial and economic revolution in the country as any activity in construction sector run the wheel of 72 allied industries, while in developed countries over 200 industries are associated with this sector.

He said it was a long-standing demand of the construction sector that the government should introduce one-window operation for government approvals, especially for public projects. “We have several issues with the development authorities in almost all cities across all four provinces. A lot of time is wasted in getting approvals from government agencies. However, the government, especially Prime Minister Imran Khan, believes that the government should play a role of facilitator and create ease for the private sector,” he maintained.

The Punjab government is all set to invite applications for the Naya Pakistan Housing scheme from Okara, Lodhran and Bahawalnagar districts by next month. Punjab Housing Minister Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed told The Express Tribune that development works have been completed in these districts. Now the government is going to call applications by advertising in the press and the allotment process would start February.

Earlier, the government has announced to roll out the NPHS in Lahore, Kasur, Sialkot, Jhelum, Bahawalpur, Layyah, Multan, Vehari, Rahim Yar Khan and Gujranwala by January. However, considering the tremendous public interest and a large number of applications, the government has decided to hold the simultaneous launch of the project in all district.

Rasheed highlighted that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has received around 80,000 applications from district Faisalabad alone. The government has halted the allotment process in Faisalabad district for scrutiny of these applications. The government will do allotment after completion of the scrutiny process by March 2019.

The housing minister said there was a huge demand for housing units across Punjab. The government has held the project to avoid undue criticism as it will call application from those districts only where spadework has been completed.

Rasheed highlighted that the government would construct double-storey houses under the NPHS pilot project. The Federal Housing Taskforce and Punjab government have already completed all arrangement to initiate development works on the NPHS pilot project.

The government aims to execute the project through a public-private partnership. It will play a role of facilitator and regulator in the project. It will provide land while the private sector will build houses from its own resources. Companies from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China have already expressed their interest to invest in the NPHS. A Chinese company has offered the PTI-led government to construct two million houses under the project.

A senior official told the Tribune that representatives of the UAE and Chinese companies and some other investors have also held meetings with Pakistani authorities and deliberations over the project are underway. Initially, the houses for low-income people would be constructed in Islamabad, Sukkur, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Quetta, Swat and Faisalabad (after completion of scrutiny of applicants).

Prime Minister Imran Khan had unveiled the NPHS project in October. In the first phase, the government has decided to start the NPHS in seven districts, including Sukkur, Quetta, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Swat, Islamabad and Faisalabad, with an aim to construct a total five million houses for the low-income strata of the society during next five years.

Following the announcement by the prime minister, NADRA, had issued registration form the NPHS on its website which had been download hundreds of thousands of times. The government has sought cooperation from NADRA for registration and data collection to evaluate housing needs of the people.

Eligibility criterion

As per the NADRA website, only one person per family (husband, wife and children) is eligible to apply in this scheme. Preference will be given to candidates who do not own any independent residential unit in Pakistan. The homes are to be made for the common man, who earns between Rs10,000 and Rs25,000 a month.