APROPOS the news item ‘PM directs free shuttle service’ (Dec 27). The two buildings selected for providing shelter to the homeless are on the periphery of Islamabad and located in the rural area.

How will a poor man working on daily wages in the urban area of the federal capital commute to these localities on a daily basis, in the absence of any public transport? And who is going to foot the additional expenses to be incurred on transportation? It seems that proper homework has not been done while selecting these places.

Similarly, no feasibility report was undertaken while conceiving the idea for the construction of two huge and costly underground parking lots in the upscale F7 area, which are now hardly utilised for the purpose they were built for, and instead, are now being used by people as virtual toilets.

I think it would be a good idea to convert these basement parking lots into shelters for the poor. If the parking lots in Rawalpindi can be converted into shelter for the poor, why not in Islamabad?

Ibna Ismail

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2018