Pakistan

Third shelter home opens doors to destitute in federal capital

Deputy commissioner says they will be shifted to a building as soon as a suitable place is found

Naeem Asghar January 31, 2019

A view of shelter home which has been set up in tents in the populous Sector G-9. PHOTO: EXPRESS

ISLAMABAD: Weeks after the first shelter home was set up for the homeless and the less privileged members of the society, doors for a third shelter home in the federal capital were opened on the directions of the federal capital’s chief commissioner.

The shelter home has been set up in tents in the populous Sector G-9 of the federal capital. Inside, these tents have space for 50-60 people with cots and blankets.

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat said that there were a large number of labourers and destitute people who were deprived of shelter and food in Sector G-9 of the federal capital due to which the third shelter home was set up in the city.

Facilitating the needy: Tent shelter homes set up at Benazir Bhutto Hospital

He added that people who were previously sleeping on footpaths, under the open sky, were now using these shelters to get a good night’s sleep in a safe environment.

Shafqaat further said that those seeking shelter were being provided with free breakfast and dinner apart from warm beds.

He added that the shelter home will be shifted to a building as soon as the government finds a suitable location.

The government has opened two shelter homes in the federal capital already with one in Tarlai and another near the Sabzi Mandi.

Govt to establish shelter homes in all districts: CM

“A large number of people utilise these shelter homes on a regular basis in the cold weather,” he said.

He further said that in light of directions from Islamabad Chief Commissioner Amir Ali Ahmed, the officials of the district administration were regularly visiting these shelters to inspect the facilities and to ensure that people seeking refuge there were being looked after.

Apart from these shelters, two shelters have been set up in Rawalpindi as well, including one in the car park of the Benazir Bhutto General Hospital while work was underway on setting up similar tenth shelters in the hospitals of the federal capital.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2019.