FAISALABAD, Aug 8: The local police have failed to comply with instructions of the Punjab governor for abolition of entry fee at a funfair in the local Bagh-i-Jinnah.

According to sources, the city Tehsil Municipal Administration awarded the contract for arranging the funfair to one Muhammad Din Jatta for Rs300,000 and authorized him to collect the entry fee as well as stalls' fare from July 16 to Aug 16.

Apart from subletting 200 makeshift stalls on the lush green lawns of Jinnah Garden, the contractor also set up restaurants and fast-food kiosks disfiguring the only recreational park of the city.

According to information gathered by this correspondent, the contractor rented out the stalls for Rs200 to Rs500 a day, which meant that he would collect over Rs2.5 million in a month. The Rs5 entry fee would fetch him another Rs450,000.

According to insiders, the contractor deposited Rs300,000 in the treasury and allegedly paid Rs500,000 to TMA officials. Citizens protested against the damage inflicted to the garden by the stalls during a recent visit of the governor and also demanded immediate withdrawal of the entry fee.

The governor took serious notice of these complaints and issued orders for immediate withdrawal of the entry fee as well as shifting of the funfair from Jinnah Garden to some other open place of the city.

The TMO called the contractor and asked him to stop charging the entry fee and shift the stalls from the Jinnah Garden to some other place with immediate effect. The contractor waived the entry fee on Aug 5 and 6.

On Saturday night, however, the contractor again closed the main door of the Jinnah Garden and started charging the entry fee. A TMA official rushed to the place and tried to stop the contractor from doing so, but the latter presented a certificate from a lawyer claiming to have a Lahore High Court order in his favour.

TMA officials said the LHC had issued an order for maintaining the status quo of Aug 5 and 6 meaning that the entry fee could not be collected, but armed men of the contractor allegedly manhandled the TMA staff and started charging the entry fee at gunpoint. TMA officials called in the Civil Lines police.

Instead of implementation of governor's order, two armed policemen were deployed at the main gate of Jinnah Garden and the contractor allowed to collect entry fee. TMA officials resisted the move but to no avail.