August 18, 2006	Friday	Rajab 22, 1427

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GUJRANWALA, Aug 17: Construction work on new barracks of central jail could not be completed despite a lapse of three years, causing a great deal of inconvenience to prisoners.

Sources said the government had accorded approval to construction of two new barracks and 32 cells for facilitating inmates and started construction work three years ago. Later, the contractor disappeared after leaving the project incomplete owing to lack of funds.

Meanwhile, jail superintendent Mian Shaukat Ali confirmed that the prison was overcrowded as 3,800 prisoners had been detained against a capacity of 1,100. He said as many as 1,200 prisoners of Hafizabad district were detained at the central jail.

When contacted, a buildings department chief engineer said work on new barracks and cells was under way and would be completed shortly.

VET DISPENSARIES: The livestock department will construct 50 more veterinary dispensaries at union council level at a cost of Rs114 million.

This was stated by livestock district officer Dr Gul Muhammad in a briefing here on Thursday.

He said construction work on new dispensaries in 20 union councils had been started which would be completed within the stipulated period.

He said the government wanted to establish a veterinary hospital in each village and town to provide better facilities to farmers and milkmen for treatment of their animals near their houses.

Sanitary workers: Sanitary workers of Ghakkhar Town went on a complete strike on Thursday to protest against the municipal administration for not regularising them.

Scores of workers, including sewer men and garbage lifters, staged a sit-in outside the municipal office on the second consecutive day on Thursday.

They were of the view that they had been working for the last many years but they could not be regularised by the municipal administration. Instead the sanitary inspector was humiliating them over minor issues, they alleged.

They pledged that their strike would continue till the acceptance of their demands.

Reports said almost all streets and bazaars were littered with garbage for the last four days owing to the strike.

Town chief officer Chaudhry Habibur Rehman and sanitary inspector Dr Nisar Ahmad had reportedly negotiated with sanitary workers and asked them to call off their strike, but they had denied to do so till the acceptance of their demands. As a result of which, the officials approached the Wazirabad tehsil municipal administration and brought sanitary workers from there who were cleaning the area.