Houses, flats for 1,500 Pakistani labourers under Naya Pakistan Housing project

ISLAMABAD: It is very difficult for the salaried class, workers and laborers to construct or purchase a house in the cities due to soaring prices of land, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Thursday.

He was addressing a ceremony in Islamabad in connection with allotment of 1,500 houses and flats to the working class under the Naya Pakistan Housing programme.

The premier said the government has started the Naya Pakistan Housing project with a new mindset to provide support to these segments of society to own a house.

The ceremony started with a short speech by the PM's aide on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari, who said that in the first phase of this project completed by Workers Welfare Fund, 1008 flats and 500 houses have been constructed.

For the first time, workers and labourers are being provided with their own roof on mortgage basis, Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed had said.

Under this scheme, houses will be distributed among widows and disabled, besides labourers on ownership rights to those who are earning less than Rs 0.5 million.

The premier said the government has introduced a legislation under which banks will provide loans on 5% interest rate for the construction of houses.

He said banks have promised to set aside Rs380 billion for this purpose.

Imran Khan said there is a boom in the construction industry due to the incentives given by the present government. He said this will not only lead to wealth creation but also provide job opportunities to the youth.