For the first time in the history of Pak-US relations, a Washington D.C. based U.S. agency, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), will build about 1600 apartments projects in various cities of Punjab for the low income people, with a 60 percent quota for the law enforcement agencies' personnel.
"All credit goes to Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi for this big project, as it has become possible solely due to his efforts," a reliable source told weekly Sada-e-Pakistan here , on condition of anonymity.
The housing project in Punjab will be completed jointly by the OPIC the Sima Development, the company which constructed the American International School in Lahore.
The ground-breaking ceremony of this project will take place by the mid of November 2007. The first phase of this project will be completed till June 2008, with a cost of 300 billion rupees.
Initially, 308 apartments will be built in three different cities of Punjab, Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi. It will be state-of-the-art housing for the low-income people at an affordable price. One will have to pay a total of Rs 1.8 million in easy installments over 30 years, with no interest at all.
According to sources, the 60 per cent of these apartments will be allocated to the deserving and the low-income personnel of various law enforcement agencies, while 40 per cent of these apartments go to ordinary people in a transparent allocation process.
The OPIC was established in 1971. It helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, and foster economic development in the emerging markets. The corporation also complements the private sector in the management of risks associated with the foreign direct investment and supports U.S. foreign policy. The OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, therefore it operates on a self-sustaining basis.
Initially, the OPIC was approached by India and Afghanistan to build affordable housing projects in Indian Punjab and Kabul. In this regard, Indian Chief Minister Badal Singh made tremendous efforts. Meanwhile, Punjab CM Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi took notice of it and started lobbing at the OPIC and finally became successful.
The OPIC has issued approval letter for the housing project in Punjab, sources told this correspondent.
An OPIC report says: "Our mission is to mobilize and facilitate the participation of United States private capital and skills in the economic and social development of less-developed countries and areas, and countries in transition from non-market to market economies.”
The report further says OPIC will assure that the projects it supports are consistent with the sound environmental and worker rights standards. In conducting its programs, OPIC will also take into account guidance from the Administration and Congress on a country's observance of, and respect for, human rights. In accomplishing its mission, OPIC will operate on a self-sustaining basis.
Although the project approved is for 1600 apartments, it can be expanded and extended, said by a source.
The project name “Jinnah Housing” is under consideration.
Feasibility, home work and the lay out of the apartments are almost complete, sources said, adding that these apartments will have the same standards as that of any American apartment.
