Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday reiterated government's commitment to construct five million housing units before the completion of his government's tenure, while laying the foundation stone of 20,000 housing units in Islamabad. "This is just the beginning. These 20,000 housing units are part of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's vision to build five million housing units across the country. We are determined to achieve this goal," he said while addressing the ceremony. Responding to criticism regarding delay in the construction of these houses, which were promised by the PM shortly after the PTI came to power in August 2018, Khan said, "There was criticism everywhere. Everyone was asking where are the new houses? Where is the construction going on and all that? Even in the National Assembly, the lawmakers were asking where is Naya Pakistan?
"Now, everybody should know. The thing is it is such a big project and it took us one-and-a-half year to establish the authority (Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority), set up a proper structure and complete all the related homework before going ahead with this project," he said.
"Shelter is the basic requirement of every human being. I saw in Lahore, there were people who had no shelter and were sleeping on the roads. We have set up 160 shelter homes across the country," the prime minister said.
"Likewise, healthcare is a basic requirement, and an entire family suffers if a breadwinner falls ill. We have launched Sehat Insaf Cards to ensure free medical treatment for deserving people, and hundreds of thousands of people are benefiting from it," Khan said.
The PM said a comprehensive civic management strategy was being formulated to ensure that the cities were expanded through a proper plan and to stop haphazard expansion.
"There should be a green area around every city, and there should be a proper civic management plan. The expansion of the cities without any planning has caused numerous problems," he said.
The PM said that inflation was being reduced in the country and soon the interest rate would also be reduced to allow the general public to take loans at affordable interest rates.
Moreover, a workable strategy is also being worked out for the effective rehabilitation of slums in every city, he said. "Everything is changing in Naya Pakistan-for good. The hard times are over and the people have started reaping the benefits of the measures we have taken to facilitate the people of Pakistan," the PM said.
Comments
Comments are closed.