RAWALPINDI: The Parks and Horticultural Authority (PHA) on Tuesday renamed Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif parks as Iqbal Park and Rawal Park, respectively.

Besides, NA-52 Park was renamed as Potohar Park.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the PHA board of directors with Chairman Asif Mehmood in the chair.

The board of directors decided that in future public parks would not be named after political personalities as these were set up on taxpayers’ money.

The meeting also approved the annual budget of the authority and decided to make austerity measures. The board decided not to purchase any plant from the open market for the plantation drive and utilise PHA’s nurseries instead.

The PHA chairman told Dawn that the board also approved a special grant of Rs2,500 for each gardener, driver and security guard who participate in the ‘Glorious Rawalpindi’ project.

He said due to the hard work of the staff, the PHA beautified the city in the ongoing drive. He said the basic aim of renaming the park at Shamsabad was to pay tributes to the poet of the east, Allama Mohammad Iqbal.

“There was no park named after Allama Iqbal and the citizens had demanded to rename the main park as Iqbal Park,” he claimed.

He said the park on Rawal Road was also given a new name as it was constructed from the public money and there was no need to name it after a political personality.

He said the board of directors also discussed the advertisement rates for lampposts on main roads and to start decorating the pillars of the metro bus track.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2019