Continued construction of plaza on cultivable land is becoming a growing concern among the business community in the country; the latter recently demanded that such construction be discouraged so as to prevent the possibility of food shortage in future. On Friday, September 09, 2009, a meeting of the chamber of commerce and industry in Islamabad resented the construction of buildings/plazas under housing societies in the country.

The meeting pointed to the fact that many countries were actively discouraging construction on cultivable land in order to insure meeting their food needs. Pakistan, on the contrary, is not paying attention to this crucially important issue and hence rising prices of food commodities combined with decreased purchasing power of the masses is increasingly leading to food insecurity in Pakistan.

The meeting also expressed concern over the government’s move toward leasing or selling land to foreign investors. For the latter, the meeting considered encouragement in manufacturing or processing of agricultural yield instead of purchasing agricultural land or getting land on lease.