Daily Times

The Punjab government has set a deadline of 30 June for the completion of “Chief Minister Lahore Revamping Plan” and to transfer the authority of Punjab Local Governments Department as a executing agency to Metropolitan Corporation Lahore (MCL).

The decision was made during a meeting chaired by Punjab Local Governments Minister Zeeshan Rafique held here at WASA head office on Thursday, attended by Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Political Affairs Zeeshan Malik, Director General LDA/Commissioner Lahore Muhammad Ali Randhawa, Administrator Metropolitan Corporation Lahore/Deputy Commissioner Rafia Haider, MD WASA Ghufran Ahmed and other concerned officials.

During the meeting, a detailed review of the progress in “Lahore Revamping Plan” was made. Local Governments Minister Zeeshan Rafique while addressing the participants said that according to the revamping plan, launched under the directions from Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, 188 schemes of MCL and 207 schemes of Wasa would be completed. “The GIS mapping of each scheme will be completed by April 25”, he hoped. The chair directed that PC-1 should be completed within 10 days and the tendering of schemes be done within 30 days. He said the Deputy Commissioner as the administrator of MCL would supervise the whole plan.

Zeeshan Rafique emphasized that direction of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif to create a single dashboard of all relevant agencies should be fully implemented. “After the revamping is completed, there will be no need for any new development scheme in Lahore for next four to five years”, he resolved.

On this occasion, Special Assistant to Chief Minister Zeeshan Malik said that MPA of each zone would supervise the development projects in his or her respective constituency. “After the completion of schemes, there will not be any broken street or road left in Lahore. Greater focus will be on areas neglected in the past”, he vowed.

Commissioner Lahore Muhammad Ali Randhawa directed the Forest Department and PHA to pay special attention on plantation and anti-smog measures during the revamping plan. He told the meeting that an effective monitoring mechanism would be in place during the revamping plan.

Deputy Commissioner Rafia Haider said the approval of schemes would be got from the DDWP within five days and a dashboard would also be established in the Deputy Commissioner’s office. Earlier, the provincial minister and the special assistant visited WASA offices and reviewed the facilities provided for the customers. MD Wasa Ghufran Ahmed gave a briefing to the Local Governments Minister on the issues of Complaints Desk and Monitoring Cell.