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Islamabad
new city scheme
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An interview with Abbas
Sarfraz Khan, Minister for Housing
From SHAMIM AHMED RIZVI, Islamabad
Jul 17 - 23, 2000
The Minister for Housing & Works, Abbas Sarfraz Khan has assured
the affectees of Islamabad new city — a mega housing project started by Benazir
government in 1996 — that very soon they will either receive their money back or get
the plots as promised. So far his ministry has been busy in examining the various projects
launched by Nawaz Sharif government last year under Mera Ghar Scheme. This study has been
completed and now the Islamabad new city will be on the top of his agenda.
In an exclusive interview with
PAGE, Mr. Abbas Sarfraz
said that he was fully aware of the hardship of those who had deposited their hard earned
money for residential plots under Islamabad new city Scheme. Most of this money is safe,
luckily no money under mera ghar scheme was yet collected from general public but work had
been started on various projects with government funds. That needed immediate attention of
the authorities to save as much as possible.
The Ministry of Housing and Works took a comprehensive review of all
the Scheme under Mera Ghar Schemes. The committee set up for this purpose after detailed
scrutiny, approved only 18 projects of the total of 42. The decision was made in the light
of detailed study of each project particularly the stage of work and money already spent.
Hence the projects that to be completed are ones on which work had already started and
progressed considerably or were otherwise found economically viable. Prime Minister
Housing authority which was created by Nawaz Sharif government specially for Mera Ghar
Scheme has been retained for the time being to supervise the approved projects under the
scheme.
The high profile publicity and the big fanfare with which the Prime
Minister Housing Scheme Mera Ghar was launched in 1999 perforce, reminded many the mega
projects of the New Islamabad City launched in 1996 by the Benazir government and of
"Apni Basti" by the Junejo government in 1987 — the two ambitious
programmes which went away with huge public money going down the drain.
Former Prime Minister Sharif, inaugurated in 1999 the gigantic 'Mera
Ghar Scheme' in all the four provinces and Islamabad amidst ablitz of publicity in press
and electronic media. Under this scheme the government proposed the construction of over
500,000 houses for low income groups over the next three years at a cost of Rs.64 billion
on 20,000 acres of state land. Initially pilot projects were to be launched on 17 sites in
major cities namely Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Multan, Sukkurs,
Quetta and Hyderabad for the construction of 19,000 small housing units on state land
costing Rs.14.5 billion. For this purpose a new organization known as Prime Minister's
Housing Authority, under the chairmanship of lhtesab Bureau Chief, Senator Saifur Rehman,
was created Mr. Wasim Afzal a director general in the Ehtasab Bureau in grade 20 and a
confidant of Senator Saifur Rehman, who was appointed as Chief Executive of the authority,
was reportedly given over 400 per cent increase in his emoluments while under the rules he
was entitled to only 20 per cent deputation pay.
A similar authority at the federal level known as National Housing
Authority (NHA) with almost similar objectives and terms of reference was already
existing. This authority had prepared a national action plan to meet the acute shortage of
housing units. The plan of action was duly approved by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his
first tenure in 1992 and gave a grant of Rs.100 million for preliminaries for the National
Housing Authority. With the change of the government the committed funds were not
released. The government of Benazir Bhutto asked the NHA to carry out its programme in
partnership with private sector and as a result of which the NHA, in collaboration with
some private investors including a construction company of Singapore, launched the
Islamabad New City project with a big fanfare. The NHA collected over Rs.300 million from
public — poor, needy and shelterless people most of them government servants —
as a first installment against promise of plot allotment. The project fell victim to
politics. The main Pakistani partner was arrested and the D.G. National Housing Authority
was put under suspension and an inquiry was ordered by the caretaker Prime Minister Meraj
Khalid in 1997. It was still going on when Nawaz Sharif took over and the inquiry was
assigned to Ehtesab Bureau. The D.G. N.H.A., is still under suspension and hundreds of
staff members of NHA are receiving their salaries for the last over many years for no work
and thousands of those who had paid millions of their hard earned money to the National
Housing Authority are running from pillar to post to get a plot or refund of their
deposited money.
Out of all these schemes the mera ghar appeared to be most sinister. It
was more a money making exercise rather then an attempt to meet the shortage of housing
units. Under the 'Mera Ghar Scheme' the houses were constructed on state land to be
acquired free of cost. The Prime Minister's Housing Authority (PMHA) had "identified
and selected" 5,377.9 acres of land all over the country for this purpose. A number
of government departments and civic agencies, which own these lands at 114 sites, were
told to initiate the process for transfer of the titles of these lands free of cost to the
PMHA. The Housing Authority announced a tentative price of Rs.1500,000 for an apartment of
1500 sqft cover areas which came to Rs.1000 per sqft as construction cost as against the
prevailing cost of Rs.450 to Rs.500. It is anybody's guess who was going to pocket this
deference of about Rs.500 per sqft.
Mr. Abbas Sarfraz disclosed that the present government took a
prompt decision not to grab land belonging to Railways, PIA and other civic bodies.
Negotiators are on for the purchase of land required for the 12 project approved under
Mera Ghar Scheme. Rest of land has been handed over back to the real owners, he added. Now
the price of an apartment with 1500 sqft covered area will range between 10 to 11 lac
including the cost of land. Services of senior army officers has been acquired to head the
PM housing authority as MD to look after the affairs of the authority. Only policy matter
will come to him as Chairman or to the Board.
The minister agreed that there was overlaping and waste of public money
in hawing two organisations i.e. the NHA and PM's Housing authority — for the same
type of job. Merging process has already been initiated and soon there will be only one
organization under the Ministry of Housing and Works, he added.
Agreeing with the PAGE that there was chronic shortage of
Housing units in the country, Mr. Abbas Sarfraz disclosed that the present government
fully realised the gravity of the situation and his ministry was working on plan of action
to be launched soon for a permanent housing programme in collaboration with the private
sector in an open and transparent way. National Housing Authority, with credit line from
commercial banks may also sponsor some strategic or pilot projects purely on no profit no
loss basis. With full time MD for P.H.A., I will be now comparatively free to concentrate
on more important policy matters. A new Housing Policy comprehensive of all problems will
be ready by the end of the current month, the minister added.
Mr. Abbas Sarfraz agreed with PAGE that working of the Ministry
of Housing and Works was most unsatisfactory and needed drastic surgery. System of
allotment of government owned residential accommodation and hiring of private houses for
government employees has lot of loopholes which were fully exploited and manipulated by
the unscrupulous elements of which there is no dearth in the estate office and public
works department. Complaints of bribe and malpractices are common. Government
accommodation is allotted on other consideration than merit. The minister said that he was
fully aware of what was going on as he had personally received lot of complaints from
various quarters. He has done his best to check there malpractices and there has been a
visible improvement also. He however, felt that whole system has to be changed. Personally
Be believed that government cannot possibly construct residential accommodation for all
its employees. Few thousand government houses against the demand of millions create a host
of problems leading to favouritism and corruption. Government should provide only
temporary accommodation for a period of 2/3 months to government employees on transfer.
The government may sell, through public action, all remaining houses and thereby raise
huge funds which can be provided to National Housing Authority to be used as bridge
finance for launching new housing schemes. The ceiling of rent allowed to different
categories of government employees for hiring private houses through estate office should
be paid to them as a part of their salary and they should themselves find the residence
for them and their family. There will, then, be no need to have a large estate offices,
the Minister observed adding that he is planning to prepare a working paper on these lines
for the consideration of the government.
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