ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan received briefings on various urban development initiatives on Thursday from the chief secretaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh and the chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
According to the PM’s official statement, Mr. Khan expressed the expectation that the provincial governments will make the most of the concessions announced by the federal government for the construction sector.
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Last week, Mr Khan declared that the fixed tax regime for them had been extended by another year until December 2021 and the facility for non-disclosure of the source of income when making investments until June 2021, providing a “new year gift” to those connected to the construction industry. The Prime Minister also gave a one-year extension to building projects that were expected to be finished in 2022 and will now be completed by 2023, the last year of the Tehreek-i-Insaf-led government’s five-year tenure in Pakistan.
At the National Committee on Housing, Building and Development (NCHCD) meeting, the Prime Minister ordered officials to take note of the safety of the environment when completing the schemes. He not only emphasised the need for green area protection, but also called for it to be expanded.
Mr Khan was of the opinion that with activities in the construction industry, which also produced job opportunities, the economy was improving.
The KP Chief Secretary briefed the meeting on the master plans for the province’s 11 major cities. He said it was also planning the master plans of eight tribal districts. He said that Rs242 billion had been allocated in the province to various urban growth schemes and Rs61bn had already been invested by December 2020.
The Chief Secretary of Sindh also briefed the meeting on development projects in the region, according to the official handout, but “the Prime Minister expressed his dissatisfaction with the briefing.”
A briefing on various development projects in Islamabad’s E-11 sector was issued by the CDA chairman. The meeting attendees were told that separate laws for development in this field had been drafted and that the delayed projects would soon be completed.
Earlier, during a meeting with KP Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, the Prime Minister ordered the provincial government to ensure adequate supply of goods for the masses in the province for everyday use.
The prime minister praised the steps taken by the KP government to bring about food security.
Meanwhile, the prime minister was called on by the founding team of the famous Turkish drama series Ertugrul, headed by Kemal Tekden.
Mr Khan urged Pakistan’s film and drama industry during the meeting to come up with a quality production to provide young people with a welcoming Ertugrul-like alternative of low-standard and glamorous material.
According to the state-run APP, “If the Pakistani film and drama industry presents quality local production, it will not only advance, but also provide young people with alternatives of substandard and glamorous content, which will be welcomed like that in the case of Ertugrul,” Mr Khan said.
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The meeting was also attended by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz, Shehryar Afridi, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, and members of the Turkish and Pakistani film industries.
The meeting addressed the proposed television series to be produced by cooperation between Turkey and Pakistan, based on the role of the renowned Turk Lala subcontinental personality in the Khilafat Movement.
The PM stated that until the 1980s, Pakistani dramas had been very popular in the world. It was unfortunate, he said, that the young generation was not aware of the golden age of sub-continental Muslim rule.
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