Naya Pakistan housing project comes to Attock

The Naya Pakistan Housing Programme (NPHP) - a flagship project of the incumbent government to provide low-cost housing facilities to residents of the province - has finally arrived in Attock district of the province.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam performed the ground-breaking ceremony in the Hazro town of Attock on Monday.

The Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme in the district is spread over 400 kanals of land and will comprise 658 plots, including 90 plots of 10 marlas (302.5 square yards) each, 64 plots of seven marlas (211.75 square yards) each, 189 plots of five marlas (150.25 square yards) each and 400 plots of three marlas (90.75 square yards) each. Plots in the scheme will be allotted through a ballot.

Speaking at the ceremony, Aslam said that the project is a step towards fulfilling the commitment made with the public by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to build five million houses for low-income segments of the society across the country.

Noting that they took it up as a challenge, the adviser said that the government will make the necessary legislation to provide loans to people.

The scheme, Aslam said, will include a park, a walking track and commercial area comprising 38 shops.

The project is stipulated to be completed in just 18 months by December 2021 for Rs37.972 million. He further revealed that work on a similar housing project in Attock has also been started under the banner of the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme and 700 kanals of land has been acquired for the purpose. To further provide welfare to the public, he said that some 100,000 Sehat Insaf cards have been distributed in Attock so far, while another 30,000 cards will be distributed in the coming days. PTI Punjab Spokesperson Qazi Ahmed Akbar said that a state of the art trauma centre will be constructed at the Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) hospital in Hazro besides an E-library will also be constructed in the tehsil with an allocation of Rs7.50 million.

Parliamentary Secretary for Planning and Development Malik Taimoor Masood Akbar and Director General Punjab housing authority Ziauddin also spoke on this occasion.

Attock district has a population of 1.88 million people, while the Hazro Tehsil has a population of 339,238 according to the population census of 2017.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2020.