KOHAT: Special assistant to the chief minister for housing department, Dr Amjid Ali, has said that there is shortage of about 900,000 residential units in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and funds have been earmarked for overcoming it.

Addressing a function after distribution of allotment letters in Jarma Housing Scheme here the other day, he said that the need for houses in the province was increasing by 25,000 a year and a plan had been devised to solve housing problems of the people.

He gave away allotment letters to owners of the 300-kanal government land which had been occupied by the residents since 1970.

Provincial minister Imtiaz Shahid, MPA Ziaullah Bangash and secretary housing Vaqarul Hassan also attended the function.

Amjid Ali said that it was the resolve of the PTI-led government to provide the people with housing units having all basic facilities and for this purpose bank financing was also being introduced for the needy people.

He claimed that till 2014 the housing department was dormant, but soon after taking over they revived and converted it into a revenue generating sector.

ORPHANAGE: Star cricketer Shahid Khan Afridi announced an initial grant of Rs5 million for Aghosh Orphanage Foundation, Kohat, here the other day.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the foundation, Afridi said that it would be a joint project with the Jamaat-i-Islami which was constructing one orphanage in Peshawar and the other in Kohat for orphans.

The function was held under the aegis of Al-Khidmat Foundation.

The 13-kanal land of the orphanage had been donated by a philanthropist on the Peshawar bypass free of cost.

Shahid Afridi said that he would be donating more money to the foundation keeping in view progress on construction of the building.

JI provincial chief Mushtaq Ahmed Khan presented a souvenir to Shahid Afridi in recognition of his welfare activities.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2017