Efforts on to provide low-cost houses to masses

'Every year demand for houses increase by 570,000 units but only 300,000 houses are constructed, therefore, private sector should come forward and play an effective role by launching housing schemes for middle and lower classes side by side with big schemes'.
Provincial minister for Housing and Urban Development, Syed Raza Ali Gillani, stated this while addressing the 70th annual meeting of Pakistan Engineering Congress (PEC) at a local hotel on Monday.
"There is backlog of 4.30 million houses in the country, hence private sector should play its due role by supplementing government's efforts for providing quality housing units to people at lower rates", he said. President PEC Rana Muhammad Saeed Ahmed, Director General Punjab Housing and Town Planning Agency Shehzad Jamil besides a large number of people associated with engineering sector attended the meeting.
The minister said provincial government under the leadership of Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is taking all possible steps to provide quality houses to people at lower rates. He said the provincial government is extending facilities for acquisition of loans and lands besides providing full co-operation to private housing societies. He said Housing Department in co-operation with private sector has evolved housing schemes for a number of districts, which have yielded positive results. In Lahore, Lake City and Sport City are being developed over 31,000 acres of land in co-operation with an international firm while houses are being built in co-operation with private sector at Chakri road in Rawalpindi and in Sundar at Lahore.
The minister said that previous governments took no steps for promotion of housing sector and provision of shelter to people belonging to lower income groups. However, the present government realising gravity of the situation has started a number of schemes in housing sector including scheme for provision of houses to government employees on retirement and housing schemes for journalists in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan.