KARACHI, Jan 26: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has asked the relevant authorities to expedite the work on the low-cost housing scheme for the poor.

Presiding over a meeting of the people’s housing cell steering committee regarding the low-cost housing programme for the poor people at the Chief Minister’s House on Monday, Mr Shah directed the authorities concerned to remove all illegal occupants and hand over the possession of land to the housing cell immediately.

The chief minister directed officials concerned that there should be a uniform policy for all housing projects. He said the poor of the poorest residing in rural areas would be provided houses free of cost. Besides, he said 60 per cent schemes initiated in urban areas would be for the poor and 40 per cent for commercial purposes.

He said that village clusters improvement programme would also be started under which villagers would be provided facility of repair of houses to be supervised by the PHC.

Moreover, the chief minister directed the housing cell that the work on construction of houses in Badin and Garhi Khuda Bakhsh be initiated on an immediate basis.

Earlier, People’s Housing Cell Chairman Ziaul Islam gave a briefing to the chief minister on the progress of low-cost housing. He said that 100 acres (50 acres in Deh Nagan and 50 acres in Deh Surjani) had been identified, out of which possession of 50 acres in Deh Nagan had been handed over but due to 50-acre land occupation in Deh Surgani the possession was yet to be taken.

The meeting was informed that the People’s Housing Cell and Saiban would sign an MoU to jointly launch an incremental development scheme of the land.

It was informed that 140 low-cost wooden houses were being constructed at Keti Bundar, Thatta, out of which 43 houses were at Keti-Bundar town and the remaining houses were on the coastline.

It was pointed out that 10 houses were earlier built in Keti Bunder with the structure of Kekar wood, using two-sided laminated clipboard sheets.

Two hundred low-cost houses were to be constructed in districts of Larkana, Nawabshah, Jacobabad and Khairpur.

It was informed that a piece of 200-acre land had been identified in Bin Qasim where the PHC intended to launch an integrated township scheme involving developers/builders who would invest their own money and generate profit to subsidise the low-cost houses on one part of the land.

A portion of 10 acres of the land could be utilised to launch an incremental development housing scheme on the pattern of Khuda Ki Basti so that several families living on encroached land in the surrounding areas could be given ownership at the new place and the encroached land be cleared.

Among others, the meeting was attended by Sindh Minister for Housing Agha Taimour, Sindh Chief Secretary Fazalur Rehman, Additional Chief Secretary (Development) Nazar Hussain Mahar, Air Marshal (retd) Riaz Shaikh, Special Secretary (Finance) Naheed Shah, Tasneem Siddiqui and others.—PPI