KARACHI, July 27: President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday performed the computerized balloting of 19,587 plots of 120 square yards in Taisar Town Phase-II Housing Scheme of Malir Development Authority at a ceremony held at the Governor’s House.
Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, the Sindh chief secretary and other senior officials were also present.
Speaking on the occasion, President Pervez Musharraf emphasized upon introducing such low-cost housing schemes throughout the country and said this scheme should be taken as a model.
He said the available state land should be used for such schemes for the poor segments of the population. He observed that this scheme alone would provide shelter to 2.5 million people.
He referred to the population growth along with economic surge and said this needed fast development in every city with the provision of infrastructure like water, roads etc.
The president said the government policies were aimed at well-being of the masses and in this regard referred to the construction of flyovers, under-passes, elevated roads etc and said they all were being done to ensure that their benefits trickled down to the grass- roots level.
President Musharraf said that the Karachi Port Trust was working on deep-water port facilities which would help allow bigger ships to anchor at the port and this would bring Karachi Port among major ports of the world.
He observed that in Karachi a number of beautification schemes had been implemented which included parks such as Bagh-i-Quaid-i-Azam, Askari Park at Old Sabzi Mandi, Clifton Beach Park. He said these projects were essential for a better environment.
He asked the city nazim to ensure cleanliness in the city of Karachi and emphasized the need for setting up of a Solid Waste Management Plant which will also generate electricity.
The president said the government’s focus was on alleviating unemployment and controlling inflation besides improving the quality of human resource.
He pointed out that the government was focusing on meeting the demand for electricity, gas, clean drinking water to every citizen of Pakistan.
He also emphasized upon making progress in the health and education sectors, particularly technical education, which would help overcome unemployment.
He said the technical education should commensurate with our industrial requirements.
In the context of measures being taken to overcome unemployment, the president said the problem was being dealt with through the Rozgar Pakistan scheme as well.
The president also referred to the Lyari Expressway project and said the affected people were provided plots of 80 square yards and Rs50,000 each family for the construction of their houses. He said at the resettlement sites provision of all basic amenities had been ensured.
Speaking on the occasion, Governor Ishratul Ibad Khan said that all this was being done under the guidance and in accordance with the vision of President Pervez Musharraf.
He said the Taisar Town housing scheme was almost an abandoned scheme, which was revived and now people were being given their allotted plots.
Similarly, he said, the new Malir Housing Project was revived and people were handed over physical possession within six months who, otherwise, had been running from pillar to post for the last so many years. He said besides launching new schemes, decade old schemes were revived which included the Hawkesbay and Surjani Town schemes
Chief Minister Dr Abab Ghulam Rahim said that besides helping the Sindh government, the president had also given federal-funded projects for Karachi and Sindh. He said the president's leadership was needed not only for Pakistan but for the entire Muslim Ummah.
City Nazim Mustafa Kamal said that for the first time after 30 years a low-cost housing scheme had been introduced in Karachi with the full support of the president, the governor and the chief minister.
UPLIFT PLANS: President General Pervez Musharraf on Thursday called for preparing short-, middle- and long-term plans for the development of Karachi.
He said the short-term plan should be for one year, middle-term for a period up to 2010 and the long-term for the period up to 2015.
He was presiding over a meeting at the Governor’s House in which City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal gave a detailed briefing on the present and future development planning for Karachi.
The president highly appreciated the efforts being made by the city nazim and said he would have his full backing.
He said it was a matter of delight that he was working with a vision and all sincerity.
The president was particularly appreciative of Karachi's master planning and noted that due care was being taken of all the sectors under it.
He referred to water supply for Karachi and suggested conservation of rainwater to meet drinking water requirements. He directed that a strategy be chalked out whereby each and every drop of rainwater be conserved.
He said it was appreciable that attention was being paid to the installation of water treatment plants. He observed that water so recycled could be used for various purposes which, in turn, would result in the saving of water for drinking purposes.
President Pervez Musharraf directed that all the ongoing projects should be completed on time and if there were any bottlenecks, the same should be removed.
Earlier, Nazim of Karachi Syed Mustafa Kamal gave a detailed briefing on development of Karachi vis- a-vis the present and future planning.
He said while the city government was executing various mega projects costing billions of rupees, all the 18 towns had been provided Rs50 million each for implementing the water and sewerage schemes at the town-level to overcome problems of local nature.
Mustafa Kamal said at present some 23 big projects launched a few months back were nearing completion and by October four underpasses and four flyovers would be completed.
He briefed the meeting on the city government's plans in the health and education sectors, water supply and sewerage, infrastructure, solid waste management, power supply etc.
He requested for federal government assistance for some of the most important mega projects for Karachi.The president asked the nazim to prepare their PC-Is for consideration at the next meeting.
Earlier the Malaysian Consultants gave a briefing on the multi- million elevated expressway project from Quaidabad to the Jinnah Bridge.—APP
KARACHI, July 27: President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday performed the computerized balloting of 19,587 plots of 120 square yards in Taisar Town Phase-II Housing Scheme of Malir Development Authority at a ceremony held at the Governor’s House.
