KARACHI, Nov 19: In order to provide reasonably priced and secure housing to the ‘progressive middleclass’ segment of society, a housing project — the Naya Nazimabad City— was launched at its site on Saturday. The new city covers an area of more than 1,250 acres.

Speaking at a press conference, Arif Habib of the Javedan Corporation Ltd said that in the current sociopolitical and economic scenario it was important to have a project which would not only provide quality and affordable housing to the people but would also generate economic activity by creating employment opportunities. This would ultimately lead to a lasting peace, he said.

He said the Naya Nazimabad City was a landmark project.

Giving the background of the site, he commented initially there was Javedan cement factory on that very spot, which was brought to a close in 2010. In 2009 a master plan was approved by the Lyari Development Authority, after acquiring the necessary regulatory permission, for the housing venture owned by Javedan Corporation Ltd with AKD and Ghani Usman being other sponsors. The scheme was meant to facilitate the middle income groups of society.

Then in a formal presentation, Mr Habib said that in the first phase of the project houses and plots covering 120, 160 and 240 square yards would be offered. He said the location was convenient (two kilometres from Sakhi Hasan) to reach from different parts of the city and the area around it was largely occupied by educated people.

Mr Habib said he and his partners were hoping that they’d have a good response from the general public (the site would be open for the public on Sunday).

To make the project worthwhile, he said a team of extremely professional individuals, which would help implement the vision of those who’d come up with the housing scheme, was hired.

In the first leg, work on 350 acres had already begun and 2,600 houses would be on offer in the first stage. There’s secured enclaves with gated entries. The lush green area depicted ‘respect for nature’. A transportation grid with a ring road would make travelling easy. A large cricket ground, plots for schools, banks and hospitals had also been marked. Then there’s an administration block with one-window operation.

He also gave a detailed figure of how much money an interested buyer would have to pay for a house or plot.During the question-answer session, Mr Habib said all kinds and categories of schools and hospitals would be built catering to all sections of society.

Replying to a question as to why a joint venture was needed, he said it was a big project which only one investor wouldn’t have undertaken.

Responding to a query about the security of the area, he showed a map which was recently published on Dawn’s Metro pages delineating Karachi’s ethnic fault lines. He said the security issue was more to do with perceptions than reality. He said his team was expecting that the first phase would be completed in four years and the next phases would depend on the response.