Clearing Sector G-14/1 to cost ‘billions’

Housing minister suggests referring project to NAB to probe delays

ISLAMABAD: As work on building a housing scheme for government employees in Sector G-14/1 stalls, a senior official has conceded that it will cost billions in clearing the area apart from providing alternate lands to current residents before work on the project can begin.

This was disclosed by the Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FEGHF) Director General (DG) Waseem Hayat Bajwa while responding to questions during a meeting of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Housing and Works in the Parliament House on Thursday. The meeting was chaired by Mir Kabeer Shahi.

During the meeting, Bajwa was asked about the allotment of plots in Sector G-14/1.

He explained that massive resources were required to just secure the land before they can be plotted.

The FGEHF chief further complained that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) was not allowing them to sell land in this area, which made it difficult for them to raise revenues.

At this, the Federal Minister for Housing and Works Tariq Bashir Cheema suggested that the matter should be referred to the apex anti-corruption watchdog, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), to determine why the matter was facing inordinate delays.

Cheema also told the Senate panel about the housing scheme being built in Bara Kahu. He said that work on the project started in 2009 but it was still incomplete. He added that those responsible should be brought to book after a probe into the delays.

At this, Independent Senator Sajjad Hussain Turi from the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) pointed out that a Senate subcommittee had been formed to review the housing scheme and that it had formulated a report on it.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Kalsoom Perveen raised the issue of forced land acquisition in Taman and Morian areas.

Responding to accusations, Cheema said that the matter was currently being heard in the Supreme Court (SC) and that it would be better if it is discussed once the case has concluded.

However, he went on to explain that the government had offered Rs1.5 million to Rs3 million per Kanal of land to landowners in Morian and Taman respectively. The landowners, though, demanded Rs10 million for each Kanal of land, he said.

CDA clears rubble of demolished buildings in Sector G-12

He added that the court is expected to decide the price of the land and the court’s orders will be implemented.

Noting that the matter was raised on a request from Senator Perveen, the committee’s chairman directed the minister to provide the senator with a hardcopy of directives from the former prime minister about the issue.

Earlier, the committee was told that the Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA) had been established and that it was working to address the acute shortage of 11 million houses in the country.

“We are working day and night for achieving it [housing target],” the minister said.

Asked about the form used for collecting applications from the public, Cheema explained that the “Ghar form” was designed to be convenient for the general public to fill wherein the public were asked to list their monthly income.

The minister expressed the hope that the project will increase employment opportunities as it would link 42 different industries. Moreover, he said that corruption in the mega project will not be tolerated.

Dilating on the application process, the housing minister said that they have received around 8,000 applications for the 1,350 units which will be built under the Naya Pakistan scheme in Balochistan.

He added that employees of the federal and provincial governments along with heirs of Hazara community martyrs and the general were among the applicants.

Cheema further said that work on the project concept-I (PC-I) was still in progress and balloting for the project will be held on July 29.

The committee also asked about the Gawadar housing project. They were told that the PHA had acquired 200 acres of land for the project and that this project will be dedicated to local fishermen.

To facilitate the public in acquiring houses in the project, Cheema said that the State Bank of Pakistan had directed all commercial banks to allocate five per cent of their loan portfolios to provide the public with loans on easy instalments to secure houses.

Regarding projects in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the minister said that new schemes are being launched in the province.

Similarly, in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), he said they planned to construct two housing schemes in Muzaffarabad and Mirpur where a total of 6,000 houses will be built. For this purpose, land measuring 800 kanals and 120 kanals will be acquired in each city. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2019.