COMMUNITY centres are public spaces where members of a community tend to gather for group activities. These centres provide safe recreational options, encourage social integration and offer various facilities to keep the locals active. Good facilities contribute to the general quality of life in the community. They provide exposure to and opportunities for a wide variety of intellectual, cultural and physical activities and they can prevent anti-social behavior.

In Peshawar, there is a need to have a couple of government-run community centres with all kinds of facilities, including gymnasium, indoor sports, outdoor sports, library, theater, meeting rooms, arts society, language learning centre, cafeteria and infant care centres.

Further, the health clubs and libraries that are already operational may be kept open for longer duration ie from early morning to late night so that working women and students could also benefit.

Since the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government lays emphasis on infrastructure development, I request them to give due importance to the development of community centres and facilities as well to provide a pleasant atmosphere to the public.

Atiqa Gul

Peshawar

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2019