LAHORE: City Mayor Colonel (r) Mubashir Javaid Malik has said that work to make the provincial capital free of encroachments and a model of cleanliness is in progress.
“Restoring beauty and grandeur of Lahore, education standard, sporting facilities to youth and improvement in city traffic are my priorities,” he said during an interview with a news agency on Sunday.
To a query, the lord mayor said encroachments had disfigured city’s historic look and added to the traffic hazards, besides causing losses to the city’s revenue. He said there was least resistance from Lahoris in the drive against encroachments as people understand the importance of the initiative, adding that corrective measures wee his prerogative as the lord mayor.
Regarding his powers as the lord mayor, he said the whole of the city was his constituency and he had been coordinating with all authorities like the WASA, Punjab Health Authority, Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC), Punjab Safe Cities Authority and others for better working relationship and achieve the goals.
Mubashir said that the ‘Clean Lahore’ project had been launched to make the city waste-free and environmentally safe. “I, along with respective UC chairmen, visit two to three union councils (UCs) daily to ensure cleanliness,” he said, adding that the UCs would be re-visited after a period of two months to assess whether cleanliness targets had been achieved and standard operating procedures (SoPs) had been
implemented.
To another query, he said diseases could be controlled through better cleanliness measures in every nook and corner of the city. He said all UC chairmen had been directed to work in their UCs for supply of clean water and improve
sanitation.
About funds to the UC representatives, he said rules of business were being formulated and the UC representatives would be provided funds within few weeks. He said a master plan had been prepared to provide Lahore with clean drinking water. For the purpose, he said rusty water supply pipelines would be replaced with polythene pipes and the water-supply connections would be directly connected to the
household.
About filtration plants, he said filtration plants provide temporary refuge from polluted water while the government was planning to install a water purification plant on the BRB to ensure pure water supply to the people of the provincial capital.
About victims of encroachment drive, the mayor said that roadside vendors might be registered with a number plate against after paying some fee.
Referring to the Municipal Corporation Lahore (MCL)-run dispensaries, he said major initiatives would be introduced to improve condition of dispensaries. Responding to a question, the mayor said he was working with all authorities, including the Punjab Health Authority, to provide best health facilities. He said that dearth of doctors at the UC dispensaries would be addressed while ultrasound machines and small labs would be made functional at dispensaries.
When asked about his endeavours to improve the education standard, Mubashir said he had visited some schools to assess education standards while he had asked elementary education director to submit a report on the poor standing of Lahore in school results.
He said he was aware of the fact that the youth needed more playgrounds and sports facilities. He said parks under the MCL would be utilised for sports activities.
To another question, he said that the Safe City Project would help control terrorism and street crime in the city. He said the people must keep an eye on the suspicious persons and inform the police on the emergency numbers.