ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said providing inexpensive houses equipped with the latest facilities to the poor people especially the slum dwellers of cities was the foremost priority of the government.

He said this while chairing a meeting in Islamabad, which reviewed the progress made so far to use unutilized land and properties owned by the federal government.

The prime minister said the construction of multi-storey buildings at Katchi Abadies would help address the issue of providing shelter to the poor and disadvantaged segments of the society.

On the occasion, PM Khan was informed that the land and properties identified by different ministries and department were located at prime locations of cities including Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore and those were estimated to be worth billions of rupees.

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The meeting was informed that out of 32 properties, 27 were fully available whilst the process had been started to recover the remaining properties from illegal occupation.

The prime minister was also informed that expatriate Pakistanis and investors had shown great interest in those precious properties at the Dubai Expo.

The forum was further informed that the schedule of the auction of the properties would be framed after completing all the processes so that the advertisement campaign could be started both at home and abroad in the first week of next month.

Imran Khan expressed satisfaction over the progress made so far to bring to use the unutilized land.

He said it was an important component of the government’s policy to fully utilize the properties and use the money earned from them for the welfare of the people and building of basic facilities including hospitals and schools.

The prime minister directed that details of all the identified land should be shared with Naya Pakistan Housing Authority so that the appropriate land could be used for the construction of houses for low income groups.

He also directed the ministries to propose necessary legislation that could pave the way for utilization of properties owned by them for the welfare of the masses. He said the process should be completed in a week time and furnished before the cabinet.

The prime minister also directed that in cooperation with the relevant provincial governments, all the hurdles relating to incomplete documents of properties or those illegally occupied should be addressed at the earliest.

The Chairman of Naya Pakistan Housing Authority briefed the prime minister about the progress made so far to execution housing project for low income groups.