ISLAMABAD, June 4: The Housing ministry on Tuesday approved an estimated Rs5 billion plan, under which 5,500 flats would be constructed in place of 4,000 government quarters at Sector G-6, sources told Dawn.

The plan, which would be undertaken with the help of the private sector, was approved at a meeting presided over by Housing Minister Abbas Sarfaraz Khan.

The meeting was attended by senior officials of Pakistan Housing Authority (PHA), Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the housing ministry.

Talking to Dawn, a senior official of the ministry said: “The approval of the plan is a great achievement as it will be the biggest accommodation project executed in Islamabad in the recent past.”

He added that the minister had directed the officials concerned to immediately send the plan to the Federal Cabinet for final approval so that the accommodation problems of government employees could be resolved.

“After the plan is approved by the cabinet, tenders will be invited to select the eligible private firm for commissioning the project,” the official said.

The project aims at providing better accommodation facilities to the government employees, as about some 4000 houses occupied by them in the sector are in dilapidated condition, the minister was informed.

The plan was prepared by a joint committee of the PHA and the CDA in response to a longstanding demand of the government employees for improved residential facilities in the sector.

The meeting was informed that the ministry would not spend even a single penny on the project as all expanses would be borne by the private sector.

However, the commercial area of the sector will be handed over to the firm undertaking the project to help meet its expanses.