ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday directed the authorities concerned to expedite work on revising master plans of big cities and submit progress reports on a regular basis.
Chairing a meeting of the National Coordination Committee on Housing, Construction and Development, the PM said the government was committed to promoting the construction sector as it was vital for economic stability.
He directed the chief secretaries and heads of development authorities to upload information of approved residential projects at their websites and ensure the same was updated on a daily basis.
The step would not only keep posted overseas Pakistanis interested in the residential projects but would also end fraud in the name of such schemes, he added.
Imran Khan further asked the chief secretaries to finalise the completion of a digital portal for the construction sector by mid of the ongoing month.
The meeting was attended by Information Minister Shibli Faraz, special assistants Malik Amin Aslam, Lt Gen (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari and Dr Shehbaz Gul, Naya Pakistan Housing Authority Chairman Lt Gen (r) Anwar Ali Haider, State Bank Governor Dr Reza Baqir and the Federal Board of Revenue chairman.
On Sindh projects, the meeting was informed that 19 development projects were given approval for construction at an area of 3.8 million square feet, which would cost Rs13.8 billion and generate economic activity worth Rs30 billion.
Arif Habib, Aqeel Karim Dhedhi and other representatives of ABAD apprised the prime minister about various projects, including low-cost housing schemes by the private construction companies.
They lauded PM Imran and the measures taken by his government, saying the establishment of a high-level committee and weekly review meetings were a positive development.
The prime minister was also given a briefing on CADASTRE (comprehensive land recording of real estate) in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, along with other measures, including developing state land on modern lines and project of digitalization.
The FBR chairman briefed the meeting about registered projects and the taxpayers’ IRIS portal to facilitate the persons concerned.
The provincial secretaries, including the Gilgit-Baltistan chief secretary, updated about the ongoing construction projects and transforming the manual system into online service to minimize human involvement.
