LAHORE:Caretaker Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering Barrister Syed Azfar Ali Nasir, along with Special Secretary (Housing) Saleha Saeed, visited the Directorate General of Punjab Housing & Town Planning Agency (PHATA), here on Wednesday.
PHATA DG Khalid Nazir and other officials gave a briefing to the minister and secretary, during the visit.
The minister expressed his commitment to welfare of people and noted that the department’s poor performance was due to negligence and incompetence of the previous rulers. He also expressed his dissatisfaction with the agency’s efforts to provide adequate housing facilities to low-income families. He directed DG PHATA to visit the ongoing schemes in districts and complete their development within the stipulated time period.
The minister said that the recruitment process for vacant posts should be completed soon, and PHATA should adopt a modern business model. He emphasised the need to make the balloting process of houses allotment and eligibility criteria for acquiring the housing units.
Moreover, the minister ordered for resolution of the court cases related to all housing schemes and decided to audit the approval of private schemes by PHATA. He stressed that all approved private housing societies should be scrutinised on merit, and strict action would be taken against officers sanctioning in violation of the law. The minister also asserted that zero-tolerance would be shown against corruption, and investigations would be conducted into alleged corruption committed in the past.
The minister also emphasised the need for reforms in PHATA. He expressed his determination to work until the last minute to address the housing issues in Punjab and provide better living standards for people.