Mayor warned of protests if things don’t improve in capital

PM’s special assistant, PTI lawmaker claim IMC not carrying out development works despite the availability of funds

ISLAMABAD: The prime minister’s special assistant on the affairs of the federal capital on Monday aimed his guns squarely at the elected mayor of the city, blaming him for all the ills in the city and threatened to stage a sit-in outside the mayor’s office unless things improve.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Capital Development Authority (CDA) Affairs Ali Nawaz Awan, along with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA from the federal capital Raja Khurram Nawaz and union council chairpersons from the city, held a news conference at the Press Information Department (PID) on Monday.

Awan claimed that Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) Mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz was deliberately pushing the capital backwards.



A member of the opposition in the IMC before he was elected as a member of the National Assembly last year on a seat vacated by Prime Minister Imran Khan in the federal capital, Awan refuted the oft-repeated complaints from Aziz that the IMC lacked funds to carry out basic tasks.

Awan claimed that that the local government body, who had last month completed three years in power, had adequate resources at its disposal.

He added that the federal capital was currently facing a shortage of water with the city receiving only 63 million gallons per day as opposed to the demand of 220 million gallons per day.

One part of the problem was that only 107 of the 192 tube wells in the city were currently working with the rest inoperative owing to what Awan claimed was poor maintenance by the IMC. Moreover, he said that only 10 of the 38 water tanks in the city were currently functional.

Decrying the poor maintenance of the water supply machinery in the city, he said that the mayor should open his eyes and see that employees of the sanitation department were staging a sit-in over the non-payment of their salaries for the past five months.

Awan further said that there was no proper landfill in the city while garbage could be seen lying uncollected by the roadside, littering streets.

The Islamabad zoo, which used to be a tourist attraction, has been destroyed by the administration, he complained.

He accused the mayor of deliberate lethargy in addressing issues of the city, claiming that it was part of a scheme to force the public to take to the streets against the government.

During the presser, Raja Nawaz lamented that the mayor had not initiated any development project in the 50 union councils of the federal capital even though the corporation has around a billion rupees in its account.

He further warned that if the IMC continues on its current course, Islamabad could soon look like a garbage dump.

“Why was the metropolitan corporation not working despite having resources?” he asked, adding that even the government was compelled to kneel down before the corporation.

Nawaz, however, held out an olive branch to Aziz, stating that they were ready to extend their full support to the mayor if he is sincere in addressing issues of residents. He further urged the mayor to direct the water directorate to remove illegal water connections in the city.

Meanwhile, Awan hailed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for the development work it had initiated, noting that for the first time, the civic authority had raised Rs11 billion through an auction.

Moreover, he said that the CDA intends to initiate mega development projects in the city, including the construction of a flyover on Seventh Avenue, Sector G-7 and G-8. Moreover, a solid waste disposal site will be developed along with a slaughterhouse.

He added that all roads of the federal capital will be revamped and that the federal government will rebuild roads.

Further, he said that work on the Rs10.7 billion signal-free corridor from Koral to Rawat is expected to start this year.

The special assistant added that they were working on a new master plan for the federal capital which has been untouched for the past 18 years.

“We are devising a new master plan for the federal capital which will cater to needs of its citizens’ for the next 20 years,” he added.

Awan further said that the federal government had recovered encroached lands on Peshawar Road and surrounding the Quaid-i-Azam University. He added that the government will not destroy houses of the poor, instead, he said that they were committed to providing them with shelter.

Despite repeated attempts, IMC Mayor Aziz could not be contacted. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2019.