PESHAWAR: The district administration and traders have agreed to work jointly for restoration of the past glory of Peshawar and repair the historical wall of the city and other archaeological sites to promote tourism.

In this connection, a meeting was held between Deputy Commissioner Dr Imran Hamid and leaders of Peshawar Chamber of Small Traders and Industries at a local hotel here on Sunday.

The chamber leaders, led by Malik Mehr Ilahi, raised various issues regarding delay in completion of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), lack of security, encroachment, cleanliness, water supply, traffic problems. They said that government should take the traders on board while taking any decision regarding repair and widening of roads.

DC says buggy service to be launched to promote tourism

The deputy commissioner said that government wanted to restore the past glory of Peshawar and it was duty of the business community to take part in the clean and green campaign. He said that efforts were being made to promote local tourism.

“For the purpose, buggy service would be started on one lane of Dalazak Road in the afternoon in consultation with Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he said.

Dr Imran said that the food street would be made more attractive for the people by introducing various dishes. Such steps would help to generate jobs for the local people and strengthen economy, he added.

He said that payment of salaries to the employees of Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar would be linked with the satisfaction of dwellers of the city. He said that necessary steps would be taken for provision of foolproof security to the traders.

He said that arm licences would be issued to traders with maximum possible legal relaxation. He said that Section 4 would be lifted after thorough review of land properties in different parts of the provincial metropolis.

Earlier, a separate meeting of the chamber’s executive committee was held wherein different issues were discussed. The traders threatened to protest if government attempted to establish food street near historical sites.

Mohammad Shakir Siddique, the president of the chamber, said that traders would not cooperate with the government unless they were taken on board before launching any such project in the city.

Senior businessmen Ihtesham Haleem, Malik Mehr Ilahi, Haji Shakeel Ahmed Khan, Haji Zubair Ali, Malik Inam, Atif Haleem, Haji Tila Mohammad, Mohammad Ismail, Rehman Gul and Atif Shehzad also spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2018