LAHORE: Provincial Secretary for Housing, Urban Development & Public Health Engineering Zafar Nasrullah said that there is a shortage of 11 to 12 million housing units in Pakistan and about 5 millions are required in the Punjab province only.

He was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Friday. Ahmad Aziz Tarrar, Director General LDA, Syed Zahid Aziz, Managing Director WASA, and Jawad Ahmad Qureshi, Director General, Parks and Horticulture Authority were also present on the occasion.

He said that the government has already announced package for the construction sector. It is a best time for the business community to invest in this sector and earn huge profit.

The Punjab government is committed to serve the business community. All projects can be completed only with the help of the private sector. He said that public-private partnership is a key to success.

He said that all provincial departments are available to serve the business community. He added that a committee is already working for the revision of WASA water tariff for the industry and the government wants to facilitate the business community to the maximum. The provincial government is considering to reduce the land conversion charges for industry, he said.

LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah said the government should introduce favourable policy, so that private sector is fully supported and facilitated to take active participation in the plans undertaken for the home-deprived community of Punjab.

There is limited availability of land in the existing Industrial Estates in Lahore for setting up new projects. In this scenario, the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) has recently approved the Land Use Rules 2020 in which the prescribed fee for conversion of land use is set at an extremely high rate of 20 percent of the commercial value of the total area of ownership.

He said WASA water tariff for industrial and commercial users for extracting water through tube-wells is set at the rate of Rs 100,000 per month for 1 cusec which is considerably higher as compared to other cities in Punjab. It is worth mentioning that the water tariff in Faisalabad is Rs 13,000 per month for textile processing units and Rs 19,320 per month for general industry. The WASA water tariff for Lahore needs to be rationalized, he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020