PESHAWAR: As the Peshawar City Council held its maiden sitting here on Tuesday, mayor Zubair Ali voiced concern about the growing street crimes, frequent traffic jams and lack of entertainment facilities for women in the provincial capital and said he would take all necessary measures for the effective resolution of those issues.

He also promised equal distribution of development funds to the treasury and opposition members.

Addressing the first sitting of the city council, Mr Zubair, who was elected on the JUI-F ticket in the first phase of local body elections on Dec 19 last year, complained that the incidence of street crimes had increased in the Peshawar old city alarmingly.

He said that whenever he visited the area, the residents complained about street crimes, so he was thinking about the revival of the ‘mohallahdari system’ to check them.

The mayor also asked the council members to suggest corrective measures.

City council holds maiden sitting

He also said that the second major issue of the old city was traffic jams.

“It takes us one hour to travel from the University of Peshawar to the nearby Hayatabad area due to the frequent snarl-ups. We have just one major artery in the city, which runs from the GT Road to the University Road, so we need to put a proper traffic plan in place to fix this traffic jam issue,” he said.

Mr Zubair urged the members to come up with proposals for smooth flow of traffic.

“You [council members] are the residents of the city, so you know the best places for traffic diversions, underpasses and flyovers,” he said.

The mayor also said that it was his great desire to establish separate parks for women.

He said that the city local government would focus its attention on the women’s education.

Mr Zubair said that the council members won’t be discriminated against on the basis of their political affiliations during the allocation of development funds.

“In this house, there are no opposition and treasury benches. You have not elected me and instead, the entire population of Peshawar has elected me to this office through direct elections and therefore, you are equally important to him,” he said.

The mayor said that residents of the respective neighbourhoods had confidence in council members, so they were elected to fight for the people’s rights and development.

“We have to run the city council smoothly in the larger interest of the people,” he said.

Mr Zubair urged members to avoid disruption of the proceedings saying such acts cause no good and instead, create bitterness in the house.

At the start of the sitting, all council members introduced themselves to each other.

During the session, the JUI-F and PTI members shouted slogans against each other causing pandemonium in the house briefly.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2022