LAHORE, Aug 18: City District Nazim Mian Amer Mahmood said on Monday the ban on kite-flying would continue here.
“Kite-flying has claimed 42 lives after Basant,” the Nazim said while speaking to the executive committee of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The City District Government had banned the kite-flying on July 1 after the accidents (slitting of throats by twine used by the kite flyers).
Highlighting district government’s efforts to ensure safety of people, Mian Amer said the government was also contemplating to impose curbs on the manufacture, sale and display of fireworks here on a permanent basis. “We want to discourage all hazardous hobbies and sports,” he stated.
Defending the imposition of user tax on certain roads of the provincial capital, he said this newly imposed levy would continue, though there might be some changes in its collection procedures. The regular visitors would be issued monthly passes of Rs100 each soon, he added.
The local government chief urged the LCCI committee members to contribute towards the development of social sector.
Later, the Nazim urged the business community to play its due role in the provision of quality education to the youth. “The Punjab or the City District Government cannot deliver the goods singlehanded,” he said.
He said the non-government organizations had adopted 225 government schools, which were going well.
He also said the CDG was ready to construct parking plazas on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis to ease out the traffic problems in the city.
On the collection of commercialization fee, he said the local government had collected Rs165 million under this head this year against the previous year’s Rs80 million.
“We hope that the commercialization fee will touch the mark of Rs185 million next year,” he said.
Earlier, LCCI President Yawar Irfan Khan presented the address address of welcome.
WASA: The Water and Sanitation Agency is planning to outsource the collection of bills to some private company to ensure increase in the revenue.
“The chief objective of the privatization of bill collection is to remove problems,” the Nazim told the LCCI executive committee members.
He also told them that Wasa had saved Rs100 million by detecting illegal water connections and fining defaulters.
The CDG was spending Rs600 million annually on the collection and management of solid waste generated by seven million citizens of Lahore, the Nazim said. “People can help improve the sanitation system by paying its fee and professional tax,” he added.
The Nazim said computerization of land record by the LDA had begun, hoping that record of the city’s one patwar circle would be computerized by September.
“After the completion of this process, computerized fards (land ownership certificates) will be issued to the people,” he said.—APP