Naya Pakistan housing scheme will create 6 million jobs: PM Imran

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme will be Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s “most ambitious and a landmark” initiative in which six million jobs will be created, raising the demand in 40 industries.

Launched by PM Imran on Wednesday, five million houses will be constructed over the next five years under the residential project.

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, the prime minister said: “We have launched our most ambitious, landmark housing policy of building five million homes in five years.”

“This will provide affordable houses for our less privileged strata of society, plus six million jobs, create demand in 40 industries directly involved in house building and attract foreign direct investment (FDI),” he added.

NAYA PAKISTAN HOUSING PROJECT:

Earlier on Wednesday, PM Imran had said that the government wants to build houses for those who ordinarily do not even dream of owning a house, as they fall in low-income group and barely manage to find a shelter.

“Our target is to build five million homes in five years. The homes are to be made for the common man, who earns Rs10,000 to 25,000 a month,” PM Khan had said.

The premier, vowing that he will supervise the project himself, had expressed confidence that the programme would not only provide affordable housing to the poor but also create employment opportunities in the country.

“The project will also attract local and foreign investment”, he had said.

“A special housing authority would be established in three months to serve as one window for all construction-related formalities. A task force would look after the housing project until then,” he had added.

In its initial stages, the mega-project will be launched in seven cities, including Muzaffarabad, Sukkur, Quetta, Gilgit-Baltistan, Dera Ismail Khan, Faisalabad and Islamabad.

The prime minister had said the government would remove obstacles to home ownership and that this would include working with the Law Ministry to draft legislation to make this possible.

The prime minister had said that the data of the ‘kaachi abadis’ (slums) would also be collected and added estimates say that 40 per cent land in Karachi and most precious land in Islamabad were encroached due to illegal construction. He said that after reviewing international models, high-rise buildings, having all basic facilities would be constructed and the owners would have full property rights.

He had expressed hope that the provinces, particularly Punjab, would also emulate the trend set in by the federal government.

The prime minister mentioned the trend for the borrowing of house building loans in other countries and said that in the United States, almost 80 per cent people construct houses through loans, in Malaysia 33 per cent, India 11 per cent, Bangladesh 3 per cent, while in Pakistan only 0.25 per cent.