Housing for govt employees in Zone-IV

CDA grants NOC to the ministry of housing and works for construction work on 104-acre land in Zone-IV of Islamabad.

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has granted a No-Objection Certificate(NOC)  to the ministry of housing and works for starting construction work on the 104-acre land in Zone-IV of Islamabad.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, federal Minister for Housing Rehmatullah Kakar said that the ministry took physical possession of the land on Thursday and would soon start building houses for federal government employees. He said that the site plan and technical study of the land had already been completed.

The construction, he said, would conform with CDA bylaws and be in accordance with the directives of the Supreme Court.

The minister said that since Islamabad was in a seismic zone, the buildings would be made earthquake-proof.

Muhammad Ali Afridi, Managing Director, Pakistan Housing Authority said that as many as 631 houses and 2,000 flats would be constructed in the phase.

Kakar added that at least 50 per cent of each housing scheme would be earmarked for civic amenities, including parks, shopping centres, schools, health facilities and swimming pools.

He said the International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank had called a housing scheme for government employees in the federal capital but this had not been done since 1996.

He invited national and international firms to take part in the bidding process for construction in Zone-IV.

Kakar said that the ministry had already signed agreements with 16 construction firms from various countries, including China, Malaysia, Dubai, the UAE and Iran.

Out of the 3,000-kanal land, he said, price of almost 1,500-kanals had been paid to CDA at the rate of Rs1,125 per square feet.

He said: “Federal government employees of BPS-17 and above will be accommodated by increasing their existing five per cent quota.”

He said that a two per cent quota in each sector and each city would be ensured for journalists.

He added that the ministry of housing would not spend any money from the government exchequer in the construction of these housing schemes and would instead generate its own resources through selling of plots.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2010.