ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan called Thursday for a comprehensive plan to deal with future grain needs and any emergency.
He chaired a meeting to review the prices and availability of important commodities.
Imran was briefed in detail on the estimated production, consumption and demand for wheat for the next fiscal year 2021-22. The meeting was attended by Federal Minister Khusro Bakhtiar, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Syed Fakhar Imam, Advisor Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Special Assistant to Nadeem Babar, Dr. Waqar Masood, Tabish Gohar, Governor of SBP Dr. Reza Baqir, Minister of Punjab Food Abdul Aleem Khan, Minister of Finance Hashim Javan Bakht, chairman of the FBR and senior officials. Punjab chief secretary and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa participated in the meeting via video link.
Imran is calling for tough legal action against hoarding and profiteering. The use of information technology, he stressed, in farm to market transfers and all other factors must be applied to make the system transparent and provide good value for farmers and consumers.
He also chaired weekly meetings on the establishment of the Central Business District and the City of Ravi project in Walton Lahore and was briefed on the issue.
During the meeting it was informed that given the density of the population, the airport used for training flights at Lahore Walton is not safe for air flights.
The prime minister expressed great concern over the fact that in recent years, two or three accidents have occurred at this airport due to overcrowding, but no casualties have been reported.
Imran was informed that after the creation of the Central Business District, land worth billions of rupees could be used for full economic activity.
A detailed explanation was given to the prime minister of the progress made so far on the Ravi City project and he was told that special attention was being paid to the environment in the proposed City of Ravi.
The prime minister also chairs the weekly meeting of the National Coordinating Committee for Housing, Construction and Development here.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan reviewed ongoing construction activities in the country and progress in the approval process for various projects.
Chairing the weekly meeting of the National Housing, Construction and Development Coordinating Committee here, he said the promotion of construction activities would not only speed up the economic process, but also provide jobs for the community. Therefore, special attention should be paid to this, he added.
He said it had to make sure that the approved development authorities provided all the details of the approved housing societies and construction projects online and on the website so that the public, especially expats involved in these projects, could protect themselves from any scams.
Regarding the provision of government assistance to low-income people through the Akhuwat community organization, the meeting was informed that the government has provided assistance of Rp. 5 billion.
Considering the success of this project, the government decided to provide another Rs5 billion to the organization. However, Akhuwat said an additional Rs2 billion was needed for the current fiscal year, which the government would provide.
During the meeting it was informed that under the brotherhood project, the construction of 16,000 houses will be completed by the end of this year.
The meeting was briefed on the approval of construction projects, by the chief secretary of Sindh.
The prime minister was told by Abad’s representatives that some 258 projects in Sindh were awaiting approval and asked the prime minister to let the federal government speed up the approval process.
The prime minister directs the chief secretary to speed up the pending approval process.
The prime minister was also briefed by the CDA chairman on One Window Operations in the federal capital and the digitization of all land issues and construction project approvals.
The CDA chairman informed the meeting that a case tracking and management system had been put in place to automate the single window operation and the process of transferring and verifying property was also being digitized.
The meeting was informed that an online payment system had been introduced for property purchases. Since January 1, 403 construction projects have been approved and resulted in the Authority of Rs735.5 million.
During the meeting it was informed that in addition to income, working on these approved projects will generate billions of rupees in economic activity.
Responding to the meeting, the prime minister said that the construction of the construction sector is an important key for economic stabilization and recovery from the impact of the Corona epidemic.
He directed all chief secretaries to keep a close watch on the approval process so as not to be delayed in any way. He directed that new actions would be taken with regard to new communities and construction projects as well as unapproved or illegal housing communities.