Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday said the government is committed to boost the housing sector in the country to meet the residential requirements of the people. He was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony held here to mark the inauguration of development work for D-12 sector which was pending for the last 17 years.
The Prime Minister said starting of development work in D-12 is an example of good governance as the government is committed to resolve the problems of the people and provide them basic needs of life like housing.
He said the opening of second sector in the federal capital in just one month, as he opened I-15 last month, would reduce the prices of land and resolve the housing problems of the people.
He said it would be followed by opening up of five more sectors, which would be a big boost for the construction industry.
The Prime Minister said there would be no fixed quotas in allotment of plots in any sector including himself except the quota for journalists.
He said the plots would be allotted through open and transparent system by computerised balloting.
Prime Minister Aziz described the start of development work in D-12 as historical as the project is being materialised after 17 years due to the dispute of compensation to the victims. He appreciated the efforts of Ministerial Committee and the victims for resolving the issue of compensation.
He said the housing industry is the heart of country's economy and directly affects over 40 ancillary industries. He said the housing sector would not only create numerous employment opportunities for thousands of people, but also help of everybody boost country's economy.
The Prime Minister said having a personal house is a dream and assured that the government would utilise all resources to make this dream come true.
Referring to development activities in Islamabad, the Prime Minister said he had directed the Chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA) to expand the development through out the capital as the constitution avenue alone is not Islamabad, the low-income areas need equal attention. He said every Pakistani had the right to live in Islamabad.
The Prime Minister said the CDA has to gear up to meet the new challenges and create a modern computerised system, so that the people do not have to line up at its offices, even for petty matters.
He said the authority now has enough resources to meet the city's growing needs and asked to spare special amount for the maintenance of the buildings. He said the CDA is managing its expenditures through its own resources and by auctioning land and the government is not giving it funds.
The Prime Minister said he had directed the CDA that land should be utilised in a proper way and the victims should be given due compensation.
He said basic needs of life including power, water, gas, telephone and roads should be provided on priority basis in all the sectors.
The Prime Minister said credit goes to the PML government that new housing sectors are being opened and people from all walks of life are applying to get plots.
Referring to the response to I-15 sector, opened last month by him, the Prime Minister said it indicated the demand and requirement of the people.
Shaukat Aziz said there is a boom in real estate and construction business. He said there is also shortage of skilled persons relating to the construction industry and the government had decided to launch crash programme for imparting skilled training to meet the requirement in the construction industry.
Referring to the boom in the economy the Prime Minister said, due to availability of money in the market the land prices are increasing, therefore the government has decided to launch more sectors to keep the prices at reasonable level.
The Prime Minister said new traffic system would be introduced in the federal capital very soon and on the basis of Motor Way Police, special traffic police would be deputed to streamline the traffic in the capital.
He said the new traffic system would be a model and it would be followed by other cities.
The Prime Minister also directed the CDA to improve the road net work of the federal capital as delays and traffic jams are causing wastage of foreign exchange because government has to import oil. He said that police has also been directed to stop the traffic for minimum possible time for the VVIP movement.
He also directed the CDA that road leading to Shahzad Town should be improved on priority basis so that it could be an alternative link to the airport.
The Prime Minister said it also goes to the credit of the PML government that new airport for the Capital would be constructed in Feteh Jang and added its construction would start very soon. He directed the CDA to effectively plan roads leading to site of the new airport.
He said new hotels are also being constructed in the federal capital as there is shortage of hotel accommodation. He said the construction of these hotels and shopping centers in the capital would provide boost to the economy and improve job opportunities.
The Prime Minister said with the improvement of housing facilities particularly for the low income groups the PML government would be able to develop the country according to the dreams of the father of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Jinnah.
Earlier, Federal Minister for Interior Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao speaking on the occasion said due to keen interest taken by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and hard work of the Ministerial Committee, the CDA was able to start development work in sector D-12.
The minister who heeded the Ministerial Meeting also thanked other members of the committee, including Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Federal Minister for Housing Syed Safwan Ullah and Federal Minister for Labour Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Ghulam Sarwar.
Aftab Sherpao hoped the development projects initiated by CDA would help improve the living standard in the capital and make it one of the best capitals in the world.
Chairman Capital Development Authority Kamran Lashari in his welcome address said after the development of F-11 in 1988-89, the CDA had started new sectors with I-15 and D-12 which was possible due to keen interest of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
He said I-15 opened last month had tremendous response from the people and the banks have received more than 400,000 applications so far while the last date for depositing the applications has been extended for ten days besides increase in the number of banks. Now the banks would receive the applications daily till 5.00 pm.
The CDA Chairman said many new projects including five star-hotels and shopping malls would be started in the federal capital very soon. He said under the directives of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Islamabad has been made an investment-friendly capital. The ceremony was also attended by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Federal Minister for Housing Syed Safwan Ullah, leaders of PML and a large number of victims of D-12.
The Prime Minister also unveiled a plaque to mark the inauguration of ground breaking work for D-12. He was also given briefing by the CDA officials about the development work.