SAHIWAL: District Coordination Officer Asif Iqbal has been restored a day after he was suspended from service in the wake of the swinging boat accident at a park.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had suspended the DCO on Friday after 70 people, mostly children, were injured in Kanan Park accident on the second day of Eid.

The DCO allegedly failed to issue NOCs to private contractors who installed children’s recreational facilities in two public parks.

The chief minister visited the DHQ hospital to inquire after the injured children and also ordered cases against the DDO and the PHA and TMA officers. A three-member committee was formed to probe the cause of accident and it comprises S.M. Bashir, member CM Inspection team, Naseem Nawaz, Secretary, Local Government and Shakeel Ahmed, DG, PHA. The committee met the children and parents of some of them to get information.

Sources told Dawn that some local politicians pleaded the case of the DCO and urged the chief minister to restore him. The CM took back his decision after which the DCO resumed his duty.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the Pakistan Medical Association’s local chapter demanded that the chief minister appreciate the emergency staff of Haji Qayyum Hospital and DHQ hospital for showing efficiency in treating 70 people who were brought with injuries.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2016