ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced that the government is drafting laws to declare encroachment a crime and will imprison those who steal official land.
The prime minister while addressing an international housing conference in Islamabad, said, “Such a system has been created that official institutions are hiding their land from the government. Government departments own a lot of land and we sought information regarding them which they were not sharing.”
He further said, “We will imprison those who steal official land and are drafting laws to declare encroachment a crime.”
He clarified that the houses of the poor people will not be demolished under this campaign.
The premier said that the “government also plans to retrieve land from land grabbers and also the dead capital of government departments. Land worth Rs. 500 billion has so far been recovered from the land grabbers.”
PM Imran announced, “A major housing project will be launched next month to provide five million housing units to the low income segments of the society. Constructing five million houses is a cumbersome task but once initiated the number of houses to be constructed will be increased every year.”
“Affordable houses will be constructed in the tribal districts through micro-financing,” he stated
The premier explained that the houses will be constructed by the private sector fully facilitated by the government.
“The World Bank has itself decided to support the housing project,” PM Imran said while talking about the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Pakistan and the World Bank for cooperation in housing sector during the conference.
“People in Pakistan pay less tax and more charity because they do not trust the governments,” the premier said. He hoped that people will now pay their due taxes as there is a “credible government in the country”.
“Positive response has also been received from overseas Pakistanis besides Chinese and Malaysian companies for the project,” he further said.
The government also plans to regularize slums – katchi abadi in different cities, including Islamabad. He added “Houses, flats and commercial centers will be constructed by developers following the models of Turkey and India.”