Housing project builders to receive legal help, protection

Investors and developers interested in the Naya Pakistan (New Pakistan) Housing Project launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan would be given legal protection and full assistance by the ministry of law, a senior government official has said.

Since it is a public-private partnership project, some prospective investors and developers are wary of future litigation and investigations by the anti-corruption watchdog, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which is already probing a similar venture, the Ashiana housing scheme in Lahore, sources said.

A senior official of the ministry of housing said that the developers would be given legal assistance.

The law ministry is formulating proposals to facilitate the investors and the developers.

The ministry has already received about half-a-dozen offers from investors and prospective developers from Pakistan and overseas, a senior official said.

He said that the investment offers have been received from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.

At least three groups have proposed several million dollars of investment in the projects, while several others are seeking appointments to present their proposals to the prime minister and the minister for housing and works, the official said.

The ministry has also written to the ministries of defence, railways, religious affairs and education to submit details of government land available for the Naya Pakistan Housing Project.

While the response of all the ministries is still awaited, the government is confident that it would have enough land available across the country to build 5mn houses, as per the prime minister’s announcement.

Prime Minister Khan launched Naya Pakistan Housing Project on Tuesday.

Under the project, 5mn houses would be provided to low-income people across Pakistan.

Initially, the pilot project would be launched in seven cities: Faisalabad, Sukkur, Quetta, Dera Ismail Khan, Islamabad, Gilgit, and Muzaffarabad.

A developer who visited the housing ministry to present his proposal spoke about his plan.

“I have presented a proposal to build 10,000 small houses costing between Rs700,000 and Rs1.7mn per unit, according to their sizes,” said Major (retired) Tahir Ashraf.

However, he also expressed some apprehensions about the project.

“Normally, governmentsponsored housing projects are unsuccessful as these colonies are developed in areas to which residents have no real connection.

“The houses should be built in areas where residents have reasons to stay, like their businesses, jobs or children’s education nearby,” he said.