April 16, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 9, 1429

ISLAMABAD, April 15: Federal Minister for Housing and Works Haji Rehmatullah Kakar has constituted a committee which will prepare a summary for lifting of ban on the allotment of government accommodation to the employees.

Talking to Dawn here on Tuesday, the minister said the committee, headed by him, would prepare the summary which would be put before the cabinet meeting to be held next week. Secretary and two other officials of the ministry will be members of the committee.

It is worth mentioning here that after excessive complaints about corruption and illegal allotments by the ministry during the caretaker government, the then prime minister Muhammadmian Soomro had imposed ban on all kinds of fresh allotments.

The minister acknowledged there was severe shortage of houses throughout the country, especially in the federal capital for the employees. He said all the illegal allotments made during the caretaker regime had been cancelled.

He said there were about 800 un-entitled people including police officials occupying government houses/flats.

A strategy is being devised to evict all these unauthorised people from the government houses, he added.

Mr Kakar said that complete transparency would be introduced in the allotment process. The ministry website for allotment will be accessible to everyone and they will themselves check when is their turn for allotment, he added.

Retention of government accommodation after retirement has been prohibited in order to stop illegal occupation and ensure that merit is fully observed, the minister said.

To avoid use of unfair means and favouritism, all powers of allotment have been taken back from the estate officer, the minister maintained.

Apart from this, the ministry, he said, was looking into different options to resolve the housing problem. For this purpose, 1,000 flats will be constructed in G-10 and G-11. The foundation-laying ceremony will be held within two weeks, he said.

Similarly, about 10,000 housing units will be built on Kurri Road, he said, adding that about 234 acres had been acquired for this purpose.

These, he said, had been included in the prime minister 100-day crash programme aimed to provide relief to the common man. About another 100,000 housing units will also be built throughout the country within a year, the housing minister said.

About finances for these projects, the minister said this would be a joint public-private venture. He said some foreign firms including those from the UK, USA, UAE, China, Korea, Turkey, Kuwait, Bahrain had shown interest in these projects. The contract will be awarded after complete scrutiny, he added.