MULTAN: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar says the design for the building of the south Punjab secretariat has been approved which will be constructed at Mati Tal Road on a 500 kanal piece of land.

Presiding over a meeting of recently-posted secretaries of south Punjab and talking to media here on Thursday, Buzdar said offices including the chief minister office, residences, mosque and other required facilities will be established in the secretariat while an urban forest will also be grown [within the secretariat].

“The secretariat will have five storeys while Multan Gymkhana Club will also be constructed. The gymkhana will have grounds, courts for indoor games, swimming pool and shooting and riding clubs,” he said.The CM also held a meeting with parliamentarians of the district and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf ticket holders in the 2018 general elections.

The parliamentarians shared various suggestions in connection with the projects.

Meanwhile, the PTI workers protested during the ceremonies to inaugurate the south Punjab secretariat and PTI lawyers’ convention at the circuit house for not displaying the pictures of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on banners displayed there.

PTI workers protest against not displaying picture of PM, FM on banners

The protesters approached the stage but the security staff pushed them away over which the workers started shouting slogans in favour of the premier and the foreign minister.

Later on, they boycotted the events and held a demonstration outside the venue. Punjab Energy Minister Dr Akhtar Malik pacified the protesters. Renowned industrialist Khwaja Jalaluddin Roomi handed over a cheque of Rs5 million to the chief minister. The amount will be spent on the provision of interest-free loans to the unemployed youth of Shujabad and Multan.

The CM inaugurated the new campus of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Engineering University, announced upgrade of the Emerson College as university, allocated 20 kanal land in police lines and six kanal in district courts for lawyers’ community, construction of Multan-Vehari dual carriageway with public-private partnership, construction of parking plaza near district courts and journalists’ colony (phase II), shifting of district jail at new place and revival of women crisis centre.

Buzdar also visited the district jail and suspended jail superintendent Chaudhry Arshad Warraich over unavailability of basic facilities to prisoners.He expressed his displeasure over slow speed of fans in barracks and directed to install exhaust fans there.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2020