RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) will be starting a project worth Rs250 million which will include the construction of a community hall and improving the Municipal Public Library, Pirwadhai General Bus Stand and the slaughterhouse next month.

Rawalpindi Mayor Sardar Naseem told Dawn the project was approved and that consultants will be hired by the end of the month while work will start by the end of next month.

The Punjab government received $150 million from the World Bank for improving vital facilities in five large cities in the province including Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi in 2013.

The provincial government, however, provided the money to these cities as grant in aid and the loan will be returned to the World Bank by the provincial government. The local governments will not return it to the government via new taxes.

The civic body will be establishing a community hall and improving the public library, Pirwadhai bus stand and slaughterhouse

Rawalpindi’s share of the sum was Rs600 million half of which will be spent on improving the water supply and sewerage systems through the Water and Sanitation Agency and the rest will be used by the RMC to improve the infrastructure of public buildings and roads.

According to the mayor, the community hall will be constructed near the Moti Mehal Cinema on RMC land and residents of the city will be able to rent the hall for events at nominal rates. He said residents had been demanding space for events for some time due to shortage of space in the residential areas.

The mayor said the general bus stand at Pirwadhai will be made a model bus stand and new waiting rooms for passengers and bus bays will be constructed. He said all buses will operate from this bus stand and illegal bus stands will be removed from other areas.

He said the RMC wanted to improve the condition of the library building and add new books as well. He said the library halls will be improved and will be used for literary functions in order to promote reading culture.

“The RMC is working on having all butchers work at the slaughter house but money is needed to improve its condition,” he said.

After the uplift work is done, he said, the RMC will make it compulsory for all animals to be slaughtered in the slaughter house under the supervision of veterinary doctors. “The provision of healthy meat is the responsibility of the local government and we will complete the work on a priority basis,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2017