Budget cut : PHA will not lay off daily wagers, for now

The authority has managed to raise funds by auctioning billboards.

RAWALPINDI: The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) has decided against laying off 300 daily wagers after the authority managed to collect funds through its own sources to pay their salaries, it has been learnt.

Earlier, the PHA had planned to lay off the daily wagers for not being able to pay their salaries for the month of June after the Punjab government cut its annual budget.

There had been restlessness among the daily wagers, most of them gardeners, over the reports that they would be let go due to shortage of funds.

The total non-developmental allocation for the PHA in the last year’s budget for 2015-2016 was Rs159 million.

The Punjab government has so far released Rs100 million for the authority.

The provincial government had further put a 15 per cent cut on the remaining Rs59 million.

The cut had affected the payment of salaries and it was feared that the PHA would not be able to pay for the salaries of its 497 employees in total for the month of June. To cope with the situation the PHA administration had planned to lay off 300 of its daily wagers.

When contacted, the PHA Director General, Dr Abid Malik, said that the authority had generated funds through its own sources to pay salaries for all the staff members.

He said the PHA had auctioned 269 billboards and hoardings in the district and had generated sufficient funds to support the authority.

Dr Malik added that the authority had auctioned 200 billboards in Rawal Town, 46 in Murree, and 23 in Potohar Town against millions of rupees. He added that the PHA had already paid the salaries for the month of May.

Dr Malik said that he did not like the idea of laying off workers before Eidul Fitr.

It may be mentioned that the PHA Rawalpindi, since its inception in 2011, has been facing financial problems and the Punjab government has had to pay special grants to the authority to run its routine affairs.

The PHA is mainly responsible for the upkeep of 36 parks in Murree, Rawal Town, and Potohar Town and greenbelts along the roads.

The authority had been given powers to auction billboards to generating its own finances.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2016.