The NED University of Engineering & Technology’s Centre for Affordable Housing & Sustainable Built Environment (CAHSBE) inaugurated an affordable low-cost model home at the varsity’s campus on University Road on Saturday.
The varsity had established the centre in the year 2019 in support of the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to provide housing units with allied facilities to all, especially focusing on financially underserved and middle-income communities, and as a measure of comprehensive socio-economic uplift.
In August 2018, the PM announced the initiative of the housing scheme. The objectives of the project are to achieve the target of constructing five million housing units in the next five years and to make housing accessible for all segments of society.
The NED University’s Jersey Precast Chair and CAHSBE head Prof Dr Shuaib Ahmad said that the aim of the centre is to move towards creating a capable and viable local construction sector that is able to respond to the demands of sustainable infrastructure and housing development through a rotational and mutually agreeable strategic process.
Dr Ahmad said that the centre will assist in developing strategies that involve all the stakeholders to deliver capital-intensive infrastructure as well as energy-efficient and low-cost housing facilities in a sustainable way.
He said that as many as 28 national universities are electronically connected with the centre, adding that every two weeks they conduct zoom meetings with the representative of every university, during which the representatives give presentations about their projects regarding low-cost housing schemes.
He pointed out that the projects that seem mature enough or ready to be adopted by the construction industry are connected with the industry through their national platform.
He gave the example of Gilgit-Baltistan’s Karakoram International University that is working on indigenous housing in their region with stone masonry, mud houses and timber.
He said that the University of Peshawar’s area of research includes concrete sandwich house, mud sandwich house and hollow masonry blocks. As for the low-cost model home, he added that it was sponsored by ANZ Worldwide and the land was provided by the NED University.
Naya Pakistan Housing & Development Authority (NAPHDA) Chairman Lt Gen (retd) Anwar Ali Hyder said that the government has introduced several concessions for the construction sector for the building of houses.
He pointed out that under the NAPHDA, the latest technology is being used for construction. “These houses are not only durable and low-cost but also quick to construct,” he said. As for the construction material, he added that even the material is being manufactured in Pakistan.
Naya Pakistan Housing Programme Task Force Chairman Zaigham Mahmood Rizvi said that they were writing a history of the construction and housing industry of the country.
He appreciated the 28 universities of Pakistan that are connected with the CAHSBE. “No country has ever grown without an active academia,” he said, adding that housing is not only a roof but also the driver of economy as well as an opportunity for job creation.
According to him, the market is not aware of what the academia has been doing lately. For this reason, he pointed out, some 14 websites have been created regarding the work being carried out on the material to be used in construction by the academia.
Rizvi said that the Association of Builders and Developers will be taken on board so that new technology can be used in the construction sector.
He said that according to the PM, his government will play its role in the low-cost housing scheme as an enabler, while the private sector will play its role on the ground.
He pointed out that for the first time three types of housing schemes are being constructed in Pakistan: urban housing, rural housing and semi-urban housing.
He said that for semi-urban housing, the Akhuwat Foundation was allocated Rs5 billion, out of which 7,150 semi-urban houses had already been constructed. Regarding rural houses, he added that the country’s villages had been turned into slums over time and never allowed to expand. He pointed out that in Punjab work is being done for the construction of modern villages on three to five acres of land. He said that moving forwards, there is the supply side, the finance side and the regulator side of the housing scheme.
He explained that on the regulatory side, the construction industry has already received benefits. As for the finance side, he said that banks are already chasing the construction industry for the first time in Pakistan. And for the supply side, he added that they want to make small, resilient but decent houses.
Addressing the session online, Federal Minster for Science & Technology Fawad Hussain Chaudhry said that the real problem is that there is no connection between the industry and the academia.
“We want formidable structures so that people can benefit later,” he said, adding that they want to put the research and technology of the academia to practical use.
“We owe the industrial revolution of 1960 to the Pakistan Council of Scientific & Industrial Research [PCSIR],” he said. This year, he pointed out, they are working on opening a department for construction material at the PCSIR. “This year will be a game changer for Pakistan.”
NED University Vice Chancellor Sarosh Lodi said that it is about time that they do not just show what they can do but offer their services. He requested the government to put the students of the 28 universities to work. “These students are at your disposal. We are only a call away.”
