PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said here on Thursday that sanitation situation in the city had significantly improved due to the efforts of Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP).

He was addressing participants of a ceremony arranged to induct specialised vehicles and other equipment into WSSP.

Mr Khattak said that there was a need to further improve sanitation conditions in the city. He said that sanitation was not only important for community health, but also integral part of faith and spending on maintenance of sanitation was the best instrument to control diseases.

He termed the provision of proper equipment and specialised vehicles to WSSP a great achievement. He said that sanitation was among the high priorities of the provincial government and that was why it had asked the local governments to take proper care to ensure sanitation in respective areas.

Asks people to pay taxes and utility bills to get quality services

The chief minister said that the tehsil and village councils had been directed to spend 20 per cent of their budget on improvement of sanitation to keep villages clean.

Taking notice of the poor sanitation conditions in Kohat Road area, he directed for improvements immediately. He said that construction of Kohat bypass road had been planned to improve traffic flow in the area. He said that an overhead bridge would be constructed near Pir Zakori flyover to overcome traffic impediments at the Ring Road.

Mr Khattak said that steps for beautification of the provincial metropolis and construction of roads in Hayatabad and University Town were in progress.

He announced that next year construction of roads in the interior city would be handed over to the Frontier Works Organisation to maintain high standard of work.

The chief minister asked people to pay taxes and utility bills for strengthening of the institutions and ensuring provision of quality services. He said that bringing a change was a real challenge for the government and that was why apart from legislation other steps were being taken for streamlining the institutions.

WSSP board chairman Khalid Masood said that the company had succeeded in improving the sanitation situation while steps were underway to make Peshawar an international city.

WSSP chief executive Mohammad Naeem said that the organisation has also devised a sustainable mechanism for provision of drinking water. He said that tracking system was devised for the WSSP vehicle to check misuse while monitoring of the staff was also started. He said that testing facility had been introduced to maintain quality of drinking water.

General manager (operations) WSSP Nasir Ghafoor said that 16 trucks and 151 containers were being handed over to the organisation in the first phase, while in the second phase it would get 50 mini-dumpers.

Special assistant to the CM for information Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani and district nazim Mohammad Asim Khan were also present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2016