Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OP&HRD) Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari Thursday announced massive crackdown against all the illegal housing societies involved in hoodwinking expatriates by promising fake investment opportunities in real estate sector.
The SAPM said he would soon launch a mechanism to provide better real estate investment channels to the overseas Pakistanis. All-out efforts would be made to protect the compatriots from tricksters of real estate sector, he added. “Major crack down will be launched on all illegal housing societies selling to Overseas Pakistanis through external channels (expos, digital, overseas offices). No one will be allowed to cheat innocent overseas Pakistanis. Will share mechanism to provide better real estate investment channels,†the SAPM stated.
Most of the complaints lodged by the expatriates with the OP&HRD ministry were related to the property disputes that was why the government had been moving forward briskly with its plan of setting up the first-ever ‘fast-track’ court in federal capital to ensure speedy retrieval of expatriates’ properties from land grabbers, said a senior officer of the ministry.
He said the project had been entered into final stages as the Ministry of Law and Justice would finalize the summary shortly by approving the official definition of an ‘Overseas Pakistani’. After finalization of the summary, the officer said the final draft would be presented before the Federal Cabinet and Parliament for their approval.
He said the summary was submitted to the law ministry by the OP&HRD a couple of months ago on instruction of SAPM Zulfikar Bukhari, who came up with the idea of establishing the dedicated fast-track court for expatriates. “Main objective of this initiative is to move forward for swift retrieval of valuable properties of Pakistanis living abroad from mafias and bring them to justice,†Zulfikar Bukhari stated.
According to Bukhari, the fast-track court would ensure disposal of cases within one month period. He said: “On special directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the government would extend all possible facilities to expatriates for investment in diverse fields of economy.†The special assistant said the fast-track court in the capital city would be taken as a pilot project after which similar courts would be set up in other cities of the country.
He regretted that previous government did not pay attention towards this issue of overseas Pakistanis despite the fact that they repeatedly highlighted their miseries. He also said a special desk for expats had been set up at the Police Facilitation Centre in Islamabad to ensure swift resolution of the issues of overseas Pakistanis, adding the officials of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation had been working at the special desk around the clock to establish a strong connectivity among the departments concerned for resolving expats’ complaints instantly.
