CM plans revival of Quetta’s past glory

Kamal calls for urban planning in provincial capital

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan has called for a proper urban planning for Quetta, stressing the need for restoring the past glory of the provincial capital.

Talking to the media after receiving a briefing about the performance of the city’s metropolitan corporation, Kamal said that years of neglect on the part of the previous governments had “turned the city into a heap of garbage”.

“The city remained deprived of master plan for decades. Unfortunately none of the previous administrations focused on Quetta’s master plan,” the chief minister told the media. “The previous administrations distracted the people with meager development projects,” he added.



“But now the time has come to proceed on urban development,” he said, citing the provincial cabinet’s recent decision of reviving the building code in the city. “We have started the Quetta Safe City project,” the chief minister added.

He called the metropolitan corporation a rich institution with poor services. “The Quetta Metropolitan Corporation is still dependent on provincial government funds although the department has its own assets worth billions of rupees,” Kamal said.

After the briefing, “we are astonished that why previous administrations neglected the provincial capital” and turned the city into a heap of garbage, he said, adding: “Without any watch over the department’s performance, our city will continue to sink deeper into a myriad of problems.”

He said that the provincial government was focusing on service delivery and infrastructure. “The provincial government has been making its earnest efforts to boost education, health, sanitation and law and order in the province not only in Quetta but also in the whole province.”

Sharing views on the ongoing project under the metropolitan corporation, Kamal said, at present, there were two projects under way. A Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) scheme was 10 years old but was still incomplete.

“The Parking plaza in the downtown of the city would cost Rs60 billion. According to our assessment it will generate an annual revenue of Rs200 million. However, by applying appropriate formula, we can collect revenue of Rs1 billion,” he said.

He assured the Quetta Metropolitan Corporation of resolving the legal issues in order to improve its service delivery. “Without delivering quality services, we cannot make the metropolitan corporation a fully functional entity,” he added.

Provincial Information Minister Zahoor Buledi, Bushra Rind, Administrator Quetta Ghulam Farooq Langove were present in the session.



 

Steps urged to stop forest cutting

Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan has asked the forest department to take effective measures to prevent felling of trees, and directed the officials to seek support of the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission’s (Suparco) help for environment protection.

For the protection of environment as well as the wildlife, he directed the department to utilise all resources to save the greenery. By fostering new plants campaigns and forest protection we could make our environment conducive and create new jobs in Balochistan,” he said.

The Chief Minister chaired a session to review the forest department’s performance. Those attending the meeting included provincial ministers Zahoor Buledi and Noor Muhammad Dumar, besides the forest secretary, provincial lawmakers Masood Luni and Bushra Rind and senior government officials.

Kamal directed the authorities to expedite progress on the Orange Land development. He called for seeking Suparco’s assistance for environment protection. He directed for establishing model nurseries and plantation of more saplings in Balochistan.