LAHORE, Nov 21: The Lahore nazim and the district coordination officer had to face on Tuesday the wrath of Local Government Minister Basharat Raja for their failure to eliminate illegal parking lots in the city and overcharging even by the legal ones and to shift slaughterhouse to its new location on Multan Road.
“Your officials indulge in corruption by allowing illegal parking lots and overcharging even by the legal ones, and we (the government) have to face the brunt (in the assembly),” the agitated minister reportedly told Nazim Mian Amer and DCO Mian Ejaz during a meeting here.
The minister had been given a tough time by opposition MPAs during a question-hour on the Local Government Department in the provincial assembly on Friday, contradicting his claim, with facts and figures, that there were no illegal parking lots in the city and no-one was being overcharged.
The minister had assured the house that the government would take a serious notice of any complaint in this regard and punish those allowing mushrooming of illegal parking lots and overcharging by all.
Official sources informed Dawn that while taking a strict notice of the illegal parking lots, the minister asked the nazim and the DCO to forthwith wind up all of them. Another direction was to take stern action against the officials or nazims found patronising illegal parking lots and overcharging.
“Have them arrested or take departmental action against the staff patronising the illegal parking lots and fleecing people rather than performing their duty to ensure writ of the government,” Raja Basharat reportedly ordered the city district high-ups.
He directed them to ensure display of official rates — Rs5 for a four-wheeler and Rs3 for a motorcycle — at every parking lot so that people could not be hoodwinked by the unscrupulous elements. Arrest those contractors who had dared to publish rates more than those prescribed on the parking tickets, he said.
Earlier, the minister reportedly also took exception to delay in the shifting of the city’s main slaughterhouse from Yateem Khana Chowk to its new location at Shahpur Kanjran on Multan Road.
He directed the officials to start construction of a boundary wall at the new location with Rs20 million, already earmarked by the Allama Iqbal Town for the purpose, after the DCO informed him that the government had taken full possession of the land. He attributed the delay to the litigation regarding the acquisition of land for the purpose.
It was announced that the Rs280 million project would be completed by the National Logistic Cell to ensure transparency, besides quality and timely construction.
The city district government would sign an agreement with the NLC for the purpose, but the minister ordered that the construction of the boundary wall by private contractors be started within a week to show the government’s seriousness in shifting the slaughterhouse out of the city limits.
He was informed that the contract for the boundary wall would be given to a private party after inviting public tenders for the purpose. Funds for the new slaughterhouse would be given by the provincial government.
Meanwhile, presiding over another meeting of Nankana Sahib and Sheikhupura town nazims and the Kasur DCO, the minister asked them to take part in the preparations for a civic reception for the visiting Chinese president.