ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed on Friday showed his displeasure over slow fencing of service road along the Islamabad Expressway.

The Chairman was visiting the site of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s portrait along expressway to see its construction work. The new portrait will likely be inaugurated on March 22.

The chairman directed the concerned wing to complete the fencing project in one week time.

“This project should have been completed weeks ago. Why progress is slow? This task should be completed in one week time,” the chairman said while inspecting the fencing project.

He also ordered carrying out patchwork of expressway and maintaining greenbelts.

Meanwhile, he inspected Quaid’s portrait project, which is being given final touches. The project, sources said was likely to be inaugurated by Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on March 22 or March 23.

The Jinnah portrait was previously constructed along the Expressway near Koral in 2005 during General Musharraf’s tenure but in August last year it was collapsed due to heavy rainfall. The civic agency, however, set up temporary portrait on the occasions of Quaid’s death anniversary in September and birthday in December.

Now the civic agency before has started the full-fledged project worth Rs59 million. The new portrait is 60ft long and 50ft wide and it was designed by previous designer Jamal Shah and safety wall was also being constructed around it.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2021