RAWALPINDI, Feb 16: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members of parliament (MPs) are unhappy with Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA) for ignoring their uplift schemes to construct Rs10 million worth of Service Road from Shamsabad to Faizabad.
The RTMA will start the construction of 4,500-foot long service road from next week as it has already issued orders regarding start of work. The construction will be done from the annual development funds of the civic body.
According to RTMA officials, the civic body planned to initiate uplift schemes including construction of Ghaznavi Road connecting Raja Bazaar with Pirwadhai Bus Stand, I.J. Principal Road, Saidpur Road, Purana Qila Road and others but the high officials of the municipal administration rejected all the projects due to shortage of funds.
“The main reason to reject the development schemes, was to construct the road connecting the house of Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan at Faizabad”, said RTMA officials.
They said total RTMA development budget was Rs240 million and the civic body had already spent Rs150 million on the projects recommended by two MNAs and four MPAs belonging to PML-N while Rs60 million had been given to City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) on the directives of Punjab government to make payments to over 1,700 pensioners.
According to official breakup of Rs150 million worth of development schemes, the RTMA launched uplift schemes worth Rs50 million in NA-56 including Shamsabad, Dhoke Kala Khan, Sadiqabad, Muslim Town; Rs20 million worth of uplift schemes in NA-55 including Raja Bazaar, Iqbal Road, Kashmiri Bazaar, Gowalmandi. It also launched uplift schemes worth Rs17 million in PP-11, Rs27 million in PP-12, Rs12 million in PP-13 and Rs23 million in PP-14.
“The RTMA did not launch a single development scheme on the demand of local residents”, the officials said and added that the thickly populated areas of the city including Raja Bazaar, Chittian Hattian, Mohanpura, Dhoke Ratta, Bahbara Bazaar, Circular Road, Jammia Masjid Road, Bagh Sardaran and adjoining areas being ignored in the annual development work of the civic body.
However, the decision of civic body created unrest in the political circles of the city and also within the ruling party of provincial government Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.
Most of the MPAs and MNA whose constituencies came under the jurisdiction of the Rawal Town, expressed concern over ignoring their uplift schemes to accommodate the high profile party leaders of their own ruling party in Punjab.
“We are providing equal funds to all the 46 union councils of the city. We did not reject the development schemes of anyparticular union council. We already launched Rs150 million worth of development schemes in different areas”, said Saif AnwarJappa, Rawal Town Administrator, while talking to Dawn.
He said the RTMA just refused some development schemes of the legislators because there was shortage of funds, adding, the civic body would accommodate their schemes in the next fiscal year.
He said the service road from Shamsabad to Faizabad was to be constructed on the demand of local residents and the RTMA did not receive any directives from provincial government in this regard.
When contacted, PML-N MPA Sheharyar Riaz said the development funds of the civic body were being used to please the near and dear ones of Punjab government. He said that the streets and roads in congested areas of the garrison city were indilapidated condition and needed early attention of the civic body.
PML-N MNA Malik Shakeel Awan said that Raja Bazaar and adjoining areas were thickly populated areas and the civic body should solve their problems on priority basis. “This area is business hub in the city and more than 80 per cent people arepermanent voters of PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif”, he said.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Rawalpindi city’s official spokesman Shujaat Haider Naqvi said the RTMA ignored the Ghaznavi Road and Saidpur Road which were alternate to Benazir Bhutto Road and was wasting public money on the construction of road in front of Opposition Leader’s house.