Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Sheikh Ansar Aziz, the first elected Mayor of Islamabad, has said that there is a plan to build four new hospitals in the areas of Tarnol, Bara Kahu and Tarlai. Presently, people from these areas visit the PIMS or the Poly Clinic, which not only took a lot of their time but had also placed considerable burden on the existing health facilities.

The mayor said Islamabad should be given a new look, adding that he had zero tolerance for corruption in the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation.

The mayor said that the summary of Rs 10 billion non-development funds was sent to the Prime Minister’s House from the ministry of finance and the salaries of the employees of the CDA were given on time for the next five months.

The mayor also said that the prime Minister had established a committee to make a metropolitan police force which would serve against the resistance of the land mafia.

He said Islamabad was one of the most beautiful cities of Pakistan but there was a lot more to be done to bring it at par with the developed and beautiful capitals of the world.

Sheikh Ansar Aziz further said Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had given his vision to modernise Islamabad and “we are in fact following this very vision as our guiding principle for our plans and actions”.

“Let me also assure the residents of Islamabad that no stone shall be left unturned in making this city a must-visit place. As regards your question about some immediate measures, you may know that the IJP Road was in a shambles for a long time and there was a longstanding demand of the residents for its repair. Soon after taking over we have immediately approved the repair work of this very important road that links Islamabad to Rawalpindi and to the Motorway also.”

To a question, he said as many as 23 departments previously run by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had been handed over to Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad, while 22 directorates had been partially transferred.

“The employees would eventually be transferred to us, though a case for the transfer of employees is in the Islamabad High Court,” he pointed out.

“The reason for the reluctance of the employees to join us is probably because they are fully conscious of the fact that they will now have to actually work here to justify their employment. Nonetheless, we will wait for the court decision,” he remarked.

He added that they had proper systems in place that would keep a check on the employees and prevent them from hoodwinking the management and the systems.

The mayor said that there were some departments which the CDA wanted to retain including F-9 Park, Lake View Park, the zoo and the Building Control Authority.

He informed that the prime minister had intervened in the matter and had ordered that these departments must come under the control of the IMC.

As regards the building control specifically, the prime minister had overruled the CDA’s reservations, and ordered to establish an authority within the IMC that would monitor building related matters, he added.

To a question about parking issues in the capital, the mayor said parking places around commercial areas was now a major issue in Islamabad. Most of the parking lots were illegally occupied by people due to which genuine residents or shoppers did not find a parking space.

“I have instructed that a detailed survey of all areas should be undertaken and we should come up with workable plans to address the issue,” he remarked.

“We are also considering allocating some space to these showrooms outside Islamabad so that they all relocate to these areas. We hope that you will soon see a significant improvement in this regard,” he added. “We will also make sure that all plazas and shopping malls have their own parking areas”.