PESHAWAR: Allottees of the Pakistan Housing Authority’s Residencia Peshawar housing scheme on Saturday staged a protest against high charges and demanded of the authorities to make the costs of the housing units affordable.

All Allottees Association Peshawar Residencia president Shakeeb Rasool and general secretary Ismail Khan led the protestors, who held banners and placards.

They demanded the handing over of housing units at low rates.

The protesters said they’re disappointed by the higher prices of housing units as they expected to get low-cost homes in light of the announcements of the prime minister.

They said the PHA Residencia Peshawar payment plan included hefty down payment and installments to their misery.

The protesters said majority of allottees struggled to deposit down payment or pay installments.

They said even the salaried employees and common people couldn’t think of paying the down payment and quarterly installments for housing units in the PHA Peshawar.

The protesters said they were kept in the dark about those charges as nothing was mentioned in the scheme’s advertisement.

They said the PHA had purchased land in Surizai area at much lower prices, so the sale of plots to poor allottees at high prices was unjustified.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2020