Building 5 million houses is an ambitious project: PM Imran

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said a lot of government departments were unwilling to provide the government with complete information about their lands.

Speaking at a ceremony, Khan said there were a large groups of land grabbers in the entire country including the federal capital where the government has retrieved land worth Rs500 billion.

Talking about government's plan to provide the poor with homes, he said  although it as an ambitious project, government task force was working hard to achieve the target of constructing five million houses.

He urged the private sector to work on housing schemes because when the housing begins  forty others industries linked to construction start working. 

"Forty industries will benefit from the (government) housing scheme," said he.

He said unfortunately Pakistan has become a country of elite class, adding that no society can flourish without working for the betterment of the poor.

"No planning was made for the poor in Islamabad. We are working on plans to regularize  Katchi Abadis for which we have to build multi-story buildings," the prime minister said.

He said government's housing scheme was aimed at the lower strata of the society for which the World Bank has assured the government of its support.

 "Companies from China and Malaysia have also shown interest," he said.

"Government doesn't have to built houses it will rather facilitate private sector," the prime minister said.