ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee was informed on Monday that Prime Minister Imran Khan will launch Naya Pakistan Housing Project in Islamabad on April 17.

Minister for Housing and Works Tariq Bashir Cheema told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Housing and Works that the prime minister would launch a similar project in Quetta after April 20.

When asked by a committee member where in Islamabad the housing project would be launched, the minister said: “At this stage I don’t want to disclose the location.”

He said four to five sites had been identified and one of them would be picked by the prime minister.

“We have shared the details of these sites with the prime minister and he will select one of them,” he said.

Read: Govt scheme to build 5 million houses to launch in April, says PM Khan

Officials from the housing ministry told Dawn that they could not identify the land which had been selected for the housing projects.

However, they said private land located in Chak Shahzad and G-13 remained under discussion meetings held recently.

The government has announced to execute its five million housing units project through Naya Pakistan Housing Authority. However, so far, the government has not made any legislation for establishing the authority.

The committee also discussed several other housing projects such as Bhara Kahu Thallian projects.

The committee was told that the ministry intended to start these two projects through joint ventures with private partners.

The meeting also discussed the death of five siblings at Qasr-i-Naz, a property of housing ministry in Karachi, in Feb this year.

The minister told the committee that it had been established that staff of Qasr-i-Naz got a room sprayed and kept it closed for several days and then provided it to a family from Quetta.

Read: Five siblings, aunt died from toxic fumigant, court told

The minister said action would be taken against the responsible persons whose negligence led to the death of the siblings.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2019