Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that over 250,000 employment opportunities have been created so far in the country since the construction activities started under Naya Pakistan Housing Program (NPHP).
He said as cadastral mapping was important for eliminating encroachments and enhancing land revenues, the provinces should expedite legislation for stopping land-use changes and protection of green spaces.
The Prime Minister was chairing a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Housing, Construction & Development held here to review the progress made on existing and new projects, a press release issued by the PM Media Wing here said.
While receiving a briefing from Surveyor General of Pakistan Maj. Gen. Shahid Pervez, the Prime Minister remarked that cadastral mapping would help in development of an authentic land record database.
It would help in clearly identifying demarcation of land and thereby eliminate illegal encroachments, he added.Moreover, the Prime Minister said that the authentic database would also contribute towards enhancing revenues received from lands.
He further said that “land-use changes need to be checked where green vegetation areas are being converted to urban projects”.
The Prime Minister advised all the provincial and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) governments to expedite legislation to put a stop to land-use changes.
He stated that protection of green spaces and agricultural lands was essential for environmental considerations and to safeguard food security.
However, he added that construction projects would be allowed under regulations.
The NCC meeting was briefed that under Phase-I of the mapping exercise, 90 % digitization of state lands has been completed in Punjab, 96% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 50% in Balochistan.
Chairman Capital Development Authority (CDA) informed the meeting that with the help of Cadastral Maps, CDA had started imposition of fines on encroachers and the amount collectedwas being used for compensation of general masses who were defrauded by illegal housing societies.
The NCC meeting was attended by Federal Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, Minister of State Farrukh Habib, Special Assistants to PM Dr. Shehbaz Gill, Malik Amin Aslam, Punjab Provincial Minister for Local Government Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed, Member National Assembly (MNA) Aftab Siddiqui, Chairman Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority Lt. Gen. (R) Anwar Ali Haider, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Surveyor General of Pakistan, and senior officers. Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh and AJK; and Acting Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa joined the meeting via video link.
Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan and Chief Secretary Gilgit Baltistan also joined the NCC meeting via video link.
Earlier the Prime Minister also chaired a meeting to review progress on Ravi Urban Development Project and Central Business District Lahore.
He directed the concerned authorities to expedite progress as these projects were very important for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country.
Meanwhile, Mr. Khan while describing Balochistan’s human resource as country’s real asset, said the government was taking measures on priority basis to include the Baloch youth in national mainstream.
Development of Balochistan was among the government’s foremost priorities he said and mentioned that a historic package was announced for the province.
The Prime Minister was talking to Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal, who called on him here.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister was apprised of the progress of ongoing development projects under the Balochistan Package.
Separately, while talking to talking to Advisor on Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood and Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi, PM said that with steps being taken for the promotion of investment and exports, investors were expressing confidence in the government’s business-friendly policies.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister was briefed about measures taken for the promotion of investment in Dubai Expo 2020.The existing potential of organic cotton in Balochistan was also discussed in the meeting. The Prime Minister was also apprised of the progress on new Textile Policy and its early implementation.
