Daily Times

We thank the Awami Workers Party-Islamabad chapter and other civil society activists for drawing the press’ attention to the country’s urban housing crisis. Earlier this week, the party activists, including former residents of Islamabad’s I-11 katchi abadi, commemorated the two-year anniversary of a demolition drive carried out by Islamabad Capital Development Authority (CDA). The CDA had undertaken the campaign on grounds that the land had to be reclaimed for development as real estate to be handed over to those from whom it took payments for residential and commercial plots.

The CDA’s argument was grounded in the language of the law but there were problems. The authority picked and chose aspects of the law that had suited it.

For instance, the CDA referred to laws allowing it to develop land for housing needs in support of its case for those allotted plots on the land in question, but it failed to factor in its calculations the constitutional principles of state policy that include housing among other basic needs to be guaranteed by the state.

Additionally, the CDA’s case against the abadi dwellers showed a complete ignorance of underlying economic forces at play in real estate markets. Public authorities mandated with land development across the country, including those under the direct command of the Armed Forces, operate on a model that regulates the housing market in favour of middle — and upper-middle class. This happens because of speculative trade in plots. Ordinary buyers lack full information available to dealers and investors whose speculative buying and selling artificially inflates property prices. Resultantly, there remains a huge lag between housing demand and supply — the figure estimated till last year in the State Bank’s Housing Finance Report was nine million units.

About 2,300 families of daily-wage earners at Islamabad’s sabzi mandi had been removed from the land two years ago. Following the demolition, AWP activists and former residents of the abadi had approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan, pleading under the latter’s original jurisdiction to seek compensation for the displaced families as well as an affordable housing policy in the country. During the course of hearings, the court admitted that the displaced residents had been wronged and sought suggestions from experts from the non-government sector as well. Some progress was made towards a federal law needed for provision of affordable housing in Islamabad and reforms in provincial statutes concerning affordable housing.

The petition has dragged on for two years now. The former residents of I-11 abadi still look up to the Apex court hoping that justice has been delayed but will not be denied. We expect that the court will not disappoint them or those other Pakistani citizens who remain crowded out of an imperfect housing market. Let us remind the honourable court that when it wants to deliver, it can act in a speedy manner. The latest verdict on Panama papers is a case in point.

Published in Daily Times, August 3^nd 2017.