LAHORE: A Punjab government’s steering committee has decided to disband the Lahore Parking Company (LPC), a public sector entity working with brand name of Lepark to regulate parking lots in the city.

The committee, according to a document, took the decision over poor performance and failure to achieve the envisioned objectives. However, the officials working at several sites in the city are protesting the decision calling it an attempt to abandon the projects only to facilitate certain people and not earning the revenue. According to the document, the steering committee in its Sept 17 meeting, presided over by Dr Salman Shah, adviser to the chief minister, reviewed performance of the LPC.

The company has been in bad press since 2016 when on July 15, 2016, and December 27, 2016, then chief minister expressed his displeasure on the poor performance of the company. It mentions a follow-up meeting of the steering committee on the public sector companies held on June 13 and August 30 in 2019.

“Minutes of the aforesaid meetings reflect that top management of the LPC failed to present any of the proposals as per directions of the steering committee,” reads the document. “The committee raised serious concerns over the lack of technical competency, professional dedication and commitment towards achievement of the objectives. The committee proposed to hand over the administrative control of the company to the administrative department which is MCL being owner of the company.”

The meetings held on May 4 and May 14 this year also failed to see any improvement in the LPC working. Though talks on the winding down of the LPC are on, the competent authority, according to the document, has desired that Metropolitan Corporation Lahore will work for revenue collection by devising a comprehensive business plan outlined in a professional manner and must ensure ‘that parking operations are not high-jacked by the mafia to mint recovery from the helpless citizens.

On the other hand, official sources called the decision malafide on the part of the government. “The LPC is a jewel destroyed by the bureaucracy,” deplores an official who wished not to be quoted. He said the company, established in August, 2012, with an intention to eliminate the ‘Thaikedar Mafia’ which was conniving with the local administration staff to rob the general public in the name of parking fee, is now being winded up to allegedly to facilitate the mafia and not the people.

“The company is managing more than 200 parking sites spread all across Lahore in different location. Around 800 workers are deployed there who have played a great role in minimising the public complaints related to overcharging, misbehave, theft etc,” he claimed. He added that the company has paid around Rs230 million besides providing free parking services to the general public worth more than Rs260 million averaging to approximately Rs70 million per year over the course of last 7 years. He demanded that the government must withdraw its decision in order to facilitate the people.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2020