MULTAN, Jan 16: Punjab Housing and Urban Development Minister Syed Ali Raza Gillani has expressed his dissatisfaction over the Multan Development Authority's performance regarding provision of housing facilities to people.

He was speaking at a seminar on construction of housing colonies in collaboration with private sector, organized by the MDA on Saturday. He deplored that the authority, since its inception, had provided residential facilities for only 30,000 new houses. "This cannot be described as appreciable performance by any yardstick," he added.

He directed the MDA authorities to process approval of any private housing scheme within two weeks and application for building design by any person should be disposed of in two days. The irresponsible officers will be shunted out of the department if any complaint was received, he warned.

The minister urged the private builders to develop housing colonies in Multan on the pattern of colonies being developed in Lahore and Islamabad. He said development should be carried out in such a way that the local people might not have to migrate to big cities for better educational and health facilities.

He lamented that a few groups had cartelized the real property business in the country and, therefore, files of the plots were being sold rather than the property itself. He said the government was in the process to put in place safeguards to prevent such trade of the real property.

He announced that a consortium of the investors belonging to the USA, Canada, Mexico, Qatar and the UAE was likely to join hands with the Punjab government in its endeavour to develop housing schemes in the province for low-income sections of society. He said the government had planned to construct 55,000 houses for the poor in the province.

According to Mr Gillani, the Punjab government would shortly unveil a new housing policy under which the owner of the housing scheme could have 70 per cent plots while 30 per cent would be handed over to the development agency. He said in return the development agency would be responsible for construction of all kind of physical infrastructure at the site of the colony.

The minister observed that in this way the development agency would no longer need to suspend their operations for paucity of resources to acquire lands for the development of housing colonies.

He said 50 per cent of the plots in the proposed Fatima Jinnah colony would be allotted to the government officials while rest of the 50 per cent to the common people. He said the government was planning to provide houses to the people for Rs600 per square feet. The MDA high-ups and officials of the private construction companies attended the seminar.