ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday visited the construction site of a low-cost housing project initiated by his administration, reported the APP news agency, where he criticized previous governments for not doing enough for the low- and middle-income segments of society.
The prime minister launched the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme to deliver five million housing units to Pakistani nationals across the country.
While recent media reports have highlighted the challenges faced by the Pakistani construction industry due to the rising cost of building material and weakening of national currency, Khan said his government was offering subsidy and incentivizing construction businesses to provide low-cost housing to people.
"No government in the past cared for the low-income segments of society who have no shelter," the APP quoted him as saying.
He maintained that local banks were processing house construction applications for about Rs226 billion after approving about Rs90 billion in loans.
The prime minister informed that construction funds amounting of Rs24 billion had already been disbursed at low mark-up rates.
"It is our effort that people have to pay less every month, almost an equivalent of what they pay in monthly rent," he added.
While the government provided tax exemptions to the construction sector amid the coronavirus pandemic to encourage builders to continue their activities, many of them complain they have halted their projects due to the overall economic situation of the country.
"About 90 percent work on the projects across Pakistan has come to a standstill due to frequent price escalation of building material," a representative of the Karachi Contractors' Association, Saeed Ahmed Mughal, told Arab News earlier this month. "Only those who have material in their stock are currently active."
Mughal said it was becoming difficult for constructors to match their current expenses with what they had quoted during the bidding process.
He maintained this was particularly true of builders working on government projects who wanted the authorities to factor in recent price escalations before resuming construction activities.
However, the prime minister said "currently 100,000 houses were under construction," adding "the Naya Pakistan Authority was fully functional to plan and execute the objective of construction of low-cost houses," the APP reported.
