Solving Rawalpindi’s problems: Encroachment still a challenge for new mayor

Sardar Naseem notes acute shortage of staff to control menace; vows development

RAWALPINDI: Over two months after taking oath as Rawalpindi’s mayor, Sardar Muhammad Naseem is still coming to grips with the task he has been handed, made worse by an acute shortage of staff.

Speaking to Roznama Express recently, Naseem said that they were working out long-term and short-term plans to develop the city.

A member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Naseem said that the chief executives of the province and the country along with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had assured him of their support and that there would be no shortage of funds for developing the city.

Moreover, he said that he had been given complete freedom to take the necessary steps for the progress of the city, and to solve problems of the residents.

Speaking about problems faced by the city, Naseem echoed one problem in particular which he had raised on the day he took oath as the mayor, encroachment.

He said that the anti-encroachment department has only 26 employees for a city inhabited by thousands of people. Moreover, the entire workforce of the Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation had shrunk to just 250 employees.

Conceding that such limited number of staff were insufficient to manage the issue, Naseem said they would induct new staff. Moreover, to control encroachment around the city, he said that commercial activities would be banned in residential areas.

“We shall control encroachment in the main bazaars by giving a free hand to the traders,” Nassem.

Further, to help resolve the issue of traffic congestions on the narrow roads of Rawalpindi, he said that they were planning to turn a few of the roads into one-way streets.

To solve the parking problem, he said that the corporation would build commercial parking plazas. Moreover, the Pir Wadhai General Bus Stand would be renovated. However, Naseem hoped that over the next two months they would be able to solve problems related to traffic encroachments and parking in the city.

Speaking about development and revenue-generating activities planned for the city, Naseem said that they were trying to install new tube wells and filtration plants in the city to ease the water supply issue.

Moreover, he said that following on from the project in Islamabad, they too would replace conventional street lights in the city with LED lights. In this regard, he added that the city government would try and arrange illumination for every festive occasion such as Eid.

Expressing his desire to be remembered as a good mayor of the city, Naseem vowed to make the city as beautiful as Islamabad. In this regard, he said that wall chalking would be banned in the city while Murree Road, Rawal Road and Saidpur Roads would be beautified.

With the dead competing for space with the living in the city, Naseem said that they would build a new graveyard in the Dhamial area. He added that they were also trying to develop a one-window system for the timely approval of residential and commercial plans and layouts in the city.

But the question remains, how would the city fund such expenses.

The mayor said that despite assurances from the government over provision of funds, the metropolitan corporation would be looking at enhancing their sources of income.

In this regard, he said that they would renovate the old TMA building and rent it out. Curiously, he stated that no new taxes would be implemented, nor would any fee or rent increased. However, the new tax-free budget would be for only for six months.

Naseem further said that the Water and Sewerage Agency (WASA) and the Rawalpindi Develop Authority (RDA), health and education departments would be required to include the metropolitan corporation’s schemes in their respective budgets.

Moreover, the mayor said that they would follow merit in every action and root out corruption.

Naseem, though, admitted that there were still some ambiguities relating to the local body system. However, he was hopeful these would be resolved in the due course of time.

The mayor added that they would work in coordination with the opposition chairmen.

(TRANSLATION BY ARSHAD SHAHEEN)

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2017.