Govt’s performance must be judged after five years: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said Thursday that a government is formed with a mandate of five years and its performance is judged after this period.

“It is like a contract that you vote for me and we shall do these things and half of this government tenure has passed and God willing, now you will see things unfolding like this housing project, which was conceived 25 years ago,” he said while replying to questions from media persons on the occasion of balloting, as chief guest, of houses and flats for the labourers and widows and special persons here. He said predictions were made about the failure of his government from the day one.

Under the Pakistan Housing Programme, in the first phase, 1,008 flats and 500 houses are included, these have been completed by the Workers Welfare Fund.

When asked whether the PTI government would be able to complete the targets by 2023, the prime minister said that people would start seeing things happening now that half of the tenure had passed. He explained that two major dams were being constructed after a gap of 50 years and obviously these would not be completed during this time and because of this, such projects were not started in the past and this was a great injustice to the country and a as result no major reservoirs were constructed and only projects were built keeping in view elections.

The premier noted that people would soon begin to see the progress on the government's housing initiatives and “you will all see the impact of it from this year because of the level of construction which is happening.” He added, “You will yourself see the level of economic activity that will be generated in Pakistan and people will get livelihoods and there will be wealth creation.”

To a question, the premier said no government in the world could build houses for everyone, even the richest ones, but what the PTI government could do instead was to facilitate and provide opportunities to people so they could easily build or purchase their own houses.

About the government's efforts in this regard, he pointed out that his government had for the first time in the country's history approached banks and offered them incentives to set aside Rs380 billion for housing finance. And, he noted that all private banks allocated this amount, which the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was monitoring.

He continued that the government was giving a subsidy of Rs300,000 for up to 100,000 houses. For example, if a house is worth Rs2.1 million and you get a subsidy of Rs300,000 on that, it costs Rs1.8m instead. This means the instalments to be paid monthly are further reduced and this makes it easier for the common man. What he pays in rent can now be paid in instalments and he owns the house as well.

The foreclosure law that was cleared by the courts in two years and it has been made easier for banks to offer housing loans. He was confident in saying that it would hopefully be seen that the housing industry would rise. Asked about the delay in the completion of the project, he replied that the land had been purchased 25 years ago by the Workers Welfare Fund, which he said was a hub of corruption. The incumbent government, he said, had decided that this should be done, so it revived a 25-year-old scheme. “A whole society was built in front of you in 2.5 years,” he said.

About measures taken to facilitate overseas Pakistanis, who wished to invest in the construction industry, Imran Khan said the government had declared a jihad against land mafia, as he noted, the land mafias and qabza groups in all the cities were big and powerful people, having connections with politicians. “They were so powerful that neither did the police say anything to them nor did anyone have the strength to go to courts and get the encroachments removed: That jihad has been started and I think the Punjab government has recovered land worth more than Rs200 billion from qabza groups. The government has also established special courts for overseas Pakistanis for fast-track decision of their cases,” he explained.

He also referred to the recent tackling of a major qabza group in Lahore, having connections with the political leadership of the past regime.

About cooperation from the provinces in construction, Imran Khan said he could not say after the 18th Amendment on Sindh because, as the government did not get any response from them. However, he contended that work was being carried out rapidly in Punjab, KP, and Balochistan. He explained the main construction initiatives and referred to Bundal Island, Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project, and Lahore's Central Business District, terming as a completely modern project.

He said the Sindh government was not giving permission for the Bundal Islands project and added that even if the Bundal Island project could not be materialised, the Ravi Riverfront Project, Naya Pakistan Housing Project, and the Central Business District would lead to the construction of over five million houses. He pointed out that houses were being built for the lowest income groups and the government was working together with the NGO Akhuwat and have created 7,800 homes for the lowest-income segments.

When asked about the government's plan for food security and the environment in the backdrop of expanding construction sector, the prime minister said he would launch a new food security plan on April 8 or 10, involving Punjab, KP and Balochistan. None had hitherto, he regretted, had paid attention to national food security issue.

The prime minister said the PTI government was the first one that was going for master plans of cities and once they were made, cities would start expanding vertically. Some of these master plans would be completed by the middle of this year while others would be completed by the end of 2021.

He acknowledged the fact that it was very difficult for the salaried class, workers and labourers to construct or purchase a house in the cities due to soaring prices of land and construction material. He said the government had started Naya Pakistan Housing Programme with a new mindset to provide support to these segments of the society to own a house.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan directed his principal secretary to quickly ascertain the exact status of the missing members of 13 Baloch families.

The prime minister, in a meeting with the three-member committee on Balochistan missing persons representing the 13 families which had staged a sit-in last month, committed to them that they would be updated on the progress in this endeavour, Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari said on Twitter.

Shireen Mazari shared that the prime minister reiterated that “our bill to criminalise the enforced disappearances, would be fast tracked along with whatever other laws needed to be amended”.

Moreover, Imran Khan also asked that he be kept informed of progress on the whereabouts of the missing Baloch family members.

Meanwhile, Imran Khan said the government was committed to take all possible steps to promote growth and investment, as development of small and medium scale industries would accelerate economic process and create wealth in the country.

The prime minister noted that development of small and medium industries was the key to improving the economy, provide more and better job opportunities to the youth but also make the country responsible: It will help pay off debts.

He said that the country, which was mired in debts taken by the previous governments, could be rescued only if the country's production increases. “In this regard, the government is committed to providing all possible facilities to the business community and investors,” he said, while addressing a review meeting on the progress in the promotion of priority sectors for economic stability and development.

The prime minister was briefed on the progress made so far in providing facilities to small and medium enterprises. The The SBP Governor Reza Baqir said that for the first time in the history of the country, small and medium enterprises were being provided loans for business by banks without collateral. He said that there was a lot of enthusiasm and interest being shown by the banks in this regard.

The meeting was also briefed on the steps to be taken to facilitate business, especially to provide maximum facilities to foreign investors and to take steps for profitable business in the country.