January 23, 2003	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 19, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 22: A joint committee of Pakistan Housing Foundation and Capital Development Authority (CDA) has reduced the price of a flat constructed at G-6 sector by Rs100,000, a CDA official told Dawn.

The committee has been formed to supervise the mega-housing project under which some 5,000 flats would be constructed in place of the houses at sector G-6 for low-salaried government employees. These government houses are stated to be in dilapidated condition.

In the first phase of the project some 204 houses were constructed in the same area in 1997 at a cost Rs140 million. But, due to some reservations made by the residents of the sector, not a single flat could be sold.

The official said a directorate had been established by the joint committee of the CDA and the housing ministry to supervise the project. The directorate is headed by the officials of the CDA.

He said the joint committee had reduced the price of a flat from Rs875,000 to Rs 775,000.

The official said these flats would be given only to the residents of the sector. He said the buyers have to pay Rs775,000 for each flats with 10 per cent advance payment. He said allotment letters would be issued to the applicants after receiving 25 per cent cost of the flat.

“In this way the applicant would become the owner of a flat after paying Rs 190,000,” he added.

“We are also making negotiations with the House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC) to arrange loans for the residents of sector G-6 so that they could pay the down payment of the flats and rest of the amount would be received in easy instalments,” he added.

The official said the government had released a sum of Rs400 million to make 204 flats functional. “Of which we have paid Rs250 million to Wapda for installation of power meters and Rs100 million would be spent on the construction of additional eight flats in the first phase,” he said.

To a question, he said a consultant firm would be hired to prepare the feasibility of the entire project under which some 5,000 flats would be constructed phase-wise. “Flats measuring 800 1,000, 1,200 and 1,500 yards would be built in rest of the phases.

The Estate Office, he said, had been directed to get the houses of those government employees vacated who would get a flat under the project so that these dilapidated houses could be demolished for construction of flats.

Meanwhile, a source told Dawn that the government employees had rejected the project and said the cost of the flats was unaffordable.

The source said these flats were being constructed only for the government employees living in dilapidated houses in G-6 area, but they were reluctant to purchase them.

An action committee of the government employees residing in sector G-6 has demanded of the ministry to further reduce the price of flats otherwise they would not be able to buy them.

The source said the flats in the first phase of the project were constructed by occupying the land of a public park located at residential area of sector G-6/1.