Daily Times

PTI government has been, particularly, unlucky to have inherited an economic meltdown that threatens to run asunder its manifesto of building millions of houses and creating 10 million jobs. While its mandarins have been at a loss to boost the floundering economy, one daring initiative announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan could have provided the shot in the arm the economy in crisis desperately needs right now.

This was the announcement made by the PM about the new policy of vertical growth of major metropolis in the country, rather than the unbridled and haphazard lateral expansion, which is eating up the fertile plains while also creating complications of traffic and basic services as people are forced to live far away from their work and study places.

The new policy that would allow building of multi-storied apartments in the residential districts of cities such as Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi would have not only helped resolve the issue of scarce housing for an ever growing population, but also spurred an unprecedented boom in the real estate development and construction sectors. Since they are the mainstay of private investment in Pakistan, therefore, it could have stemmed the tide of money flowing out of economy and into dollar hoarding.

Equally importantly, construction is an industry, which can bolster a hundred other industries ranging from cement to steel to woodwork. A construction boom could have acted as the impetus that the domestic economy desperately needs at this point for creating millions of promised jobs.

It is high time that the PTI government takes a decisive action in foiling the designs of such agencies to subvert its most promising policy initiative, which could mark the dawn of a new construction boom and economic revival besides fulfilling PTI’s promise to people for building million of new homes

Sadly, however, those Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) officers, politically affiliated with the PML-N, seem to have started conspiring against the brilliant policy initiative contemplated by the PTI government. For example, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has started opposing this policy which can break its monopoly on the tinkering of zoning laws in the capital (a monopoly which has helped bring quick riches to so many of the CDA high and low officials in the past).

The CDA resistance to the PM’s initiative was highlighted recently by DG Federal Government Employees Housing Foundation (FGEHF), Waseem Bajwa, who has plans to build around 50,000 low cost apartments to meet the severe housing shortage in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Bajwa went public in complaining that “CDA was creating hurdles in every project while its own working has been deteriorating”. Incredibly, when FGEHF contacted CDA for permission to build apartment high rises as per the PM’s newly announced policy initiative it was told that the new policy was only for Blue Area Islamabad — an elite commercial district.

The reasons for CDA’s resistance are simple. While it is known as one of the most corrupt, inefficient and mismanaged public departments in the country, the development authority has proved inordinately efficient, over the years, at making its own officials rich. With its very complicated procedures for the most basic functions it performs, such as issuing NOC for transfer of properties, CDA officials mint money at every step. And the monopoly of tinkering with the zoning laws has been a real gold mine for its babus. How could they accept a new policy that would dilute this magical power? If the PM wants high rise buildings for apartments better those be built in Blue Area alone where CDA officials could collude with real estate tycoons to make tons of money.

In CDA’s reckoning, any policy which dilutes their hold on zoning laws is against the “rozi roti” of its poor bureaucrats, who have not been able to develop any decent residential sectors for decades – having left the common citizens at the mercy of housing societies – but have been spectacularly successful at promoting their personal well-being.

It is high time that the PTI government takes a decisive action in foiling the designs of such agencies to subvert its most promising policy initiative, which could mark the dawn of a new construction boom and economic revival besides fulfilling PTI’s promise to people for building million of new homes.

Housing shortage in the country is not a problem of the ultra-rich. Tall apartment buildings on Blue Area alone may further fill up the deep pockets of CDA mandarins, but it would not help the common citizenry. What Islamabad and other metropolitan centres need is a policy whereby small to medium apartment buildings could be built in all residential districts, as is the case in all big cities around the globe. Naturally, the designated main roads in residential areas can have taller buildings than the inner streets, which may be allowed 3-5 story apartment buildings only. And the areas already designated for multi-storey residential buildings should be allowed to have high rises with adequate number of apartments

As PM Khan publicly announced, a few weeks ago, agencies such as CDA should not have the power to restrict how many floors could be built where, rather the city development authorities should focus on improving the dilapidated infrastructure of respective cities and ensure basic services.

The writer is a journalist specialising in foreign policy and national security affairs