LAHORE, Feb 23: Pandemonium broke out in the monthly meeting of Data Ganj Bakhsh Town Council on Monday because of repeated interference in the proceedings by a handful of opposition councillors.
Opposition councillors Mian Rashed, Abdul Samad Ghani, Youaf Lodhi, Matiullah Khan and Shahid Saeed continued hindering the smooth conduct of the proceedings throughout the council meeting.
They started a dispute with Naib Nazim Mian Usman soon after the commencement of proceedings. They refused to allow Nazim Khwaja Ahmad Hassaan to speak when he joined the proceedings more than an hour after the commencement of the proceedings.
The councillors opposed adoption of the draft bylaws for regulating installation of telecommunication towers on the roofs of the high-rise buildings in the town and demanded referring the same to the house committee concerned for its report before adoption.
They started clamouring for the revival of the committees of the house when Naib Nazim informed them that he had dissolved the same last year with the consent of the council.
He said that the council could constitute new committees but the defunct ones could not be revived as these had functioned for nearly two years instead of their one year tenure under the law.
Town Nazim and Naib Nazim proposed constitution of a single large committee for conducting necessary business pending the constitution of the new bodies but the opposition councillors insisted on the revival of the dissolved committees and continued voicing the demand again and again till the meeting concluded.
Khwaja Hassaan asked the councillors to propose development schemes of Rs0.5 million each for execution during the next financial year and announced provision of credit cards of Rs5,000 for every councillor without offering a personal guarantee.
He said that every town councillor had been allocated Rs0.5 million for development during the last financial year and Rs1 million each during the current financial year.
When the councillors objected to presentation of a list of 46 development schemes for the approval of the meeting, Nazim Khwaja Hassaan explained that the schemes had been prepared in compliance with the chief minister's directives and would be funded by the Punjab government.
Naib Nazim Mian Usman expressed displeasure over the opening of the tenders by Town Officer (Infrastructure and Services) in the absence of the tender committee members.He said that even he was not aware of the opening of the tenders despite the fact that he was the chairman of the special tenders committee.
He directed the Town Officer to appear before the committee and explain his conduct. Mian Riaz also complained about the objectionable behaviour of the town officer.
The council approved the proceedings of the previous meeting besides proposals for the improvement of Hali Road between Gulberg Main Market and Zahur Elahi Road, zebra crossing markings on Millat, Outfall, Sant Nagar and Salamatpura roads; publicity of the names of the adulterators caught by the City District Government Food Squad. The proposals were moved by Matiullah Lodhi and Bushra Jamal Butt.
Abdul Samad Ghani's proposal for execution of four new development schemes instead the ones approved earlier and similar motions submitted by Malik Abdul Qayyum Naberdar, Malik Munir, Bushra Jamal Butt and Aizaz Mahbub were also adopted. A committee was constituted to examine the possibility of providing financial assistance to a disabled person.