May 17, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 29, 1428

PESHAWAR, May 16: The Provincial Housing Authority (PHA) established two years ago to initiate housing schemes for lower income groups and government employees is facing shortage of staff and resources, it is learnt.

“Under the law, PHA has considerable powers but practically it hasn’t been able to exercise it. The authority has not yet identified sites for housing units, which is its primary function,” an official said.

PHA is facing a staff shortage and currently it is functioning in a single room as its office is still under construction.

“PHA lacks resources. The main problem is that state land is not available in Peshawar district to launch a pilot project,” the official said.

Sanctioned staff is close to 103 but presently only 30 workers are enrolled. The director-general PHA and four other officials sit in the same room due to the shortage of space.

The federal government had announced a national housing policy in 2001 to overcome the shortage of housing units at the national level. This policy envisaged the provision of housing units for low-income groups on low-cost basis.

The NWFP government had established a housing department in July 2004 and its subordinate body, the PHA, in August 2005. The provincial government also promulgated the Provincial Housing Authority Ordinance 2005, according to an official document.

The main function of the housing department and the PHA was to plan housing schemes and plots in each district for government servants and the general public on affordable rates.

“The housing department and PHA are new bodies and their working is slow because acquisition and buying of land involves time,” an official said.

Officials said the PHA and housing department had yet to identify suitable sites for the proposed housing schemes for low-income groups in Peshawar district since a big chunk of the land was not available.

In NWFP, the population is estimated at around 17.7 million with 2.2 million housing units, whereas about 3 million units are required in the province. At least 90,000 housing units are constructed every year but even then the deficit is 40,000 per year, an official said.

More than 2,000 kanals of state land is available in Dera Ismail Khan but the feasibility report is yet to identify a suitable housing scheme there, an official said.