Govt to provide free land for low cost housing : Governor

21 May, 2016

KARACHI: Sindh Governor Dr. Ishart-ul-Ebad Khan emphasized on launching maximum low-cost houses to stop increasing slums in the city as these were becoming hubs of criminal activities.

He asked the Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) to come up with comprehensive proposals to build low-cost houses in the slum areas and Sindh Government would provide free of cost land for such housing schemes.

He was addressing the launching ceremony of ABAD international Expo-2016 at the Governor House.

The 3-day expo is scheduled to begin on August 12 at Karachi Expo Centre, said statement on Saturday.

He congratulated the ABAD for holding exhibition saying that this event would enhance economic activities in the country.

He, on this occasion, also appreciated the working of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) under the able leadership of a leading businessman S.M. Muneer, who is Chief Executive Officer of the authority.

He said that combined efforts were need of the hour to enforce national spirit.

Chairman ABAD Hanif Gohar disclosed that a fix tax would be imposed on builders in next federal budget so that builders could work peacefully without any kind of harassment from the tax collecting authorities.

Elaborating the fix tax, he said that the fix tax would be from Rs 20 to Rs 210 per square foot.

He requested the Sindh Governor to intervene and stop raids of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials on offices of builders as these acts were creating unrest among builders.

He paid glowing tribute to Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, Sindh Governor Dr. Ishratul Ebad Khan, Director General Rangers (Sindh) Major General Bilal Akbar, and Sindh Inspector General of Police A.D. Khwaja for restoring peace especially in Karachi.

Appreciating the business-friendly role of Dr. Ishart-ul-Ebad Khan, he said that the issues of moratorium/ban on gas connections to high rise residential project and water connections had been solved with intervention of the Governor.

He told that whole builder community was grateful to the Governor for becoming the Patron-in-Chief of ABAD's International Expo-2016.

Patron-in-Chief of ABAD Mohsin Sheikhani said that the backlog of houses in the country had increased to 8.8 million units and this backlog was increasing every year. If timely action was not taken, he added, the situation would be out of the control.

He inforemd that 12 countries had confirmed their participation in this internation event. CEO, TDAP, S.M. Muneer said that corruption from TDAP has been wiped out after he had taken over the charge of the authority.

He said that TDAP would participate in 146 exhibitions this year and the ABAD Expo-2016 would become a unique event.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2016

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