‘Business community plays key role in making Pindi a model city’

Price control committees to be formed at union council level

RAWALPINDI: People are the biggest stakeholders in transforming Rawalpindi into a model city, said Commissioner Saqib Zafar.

The business community of the city has a key role to play in the beautification of the city through the Glorious Rawalpindi project, Commissioner Zafar said at Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI).

Recommendations from RCCI would prove to be useful in transforming the city into a model city, Zafar said. RCCI and traders were major stakeholders in the propagation of commercial activities, housing schemes and shifting of markets.

A clean and beautiful city will benefit every business besides attracting investors, Zafar said.

He said talk of giving Rawat Industrial Estate land for Daducha Dam was only a rumour. He said that he would personally go there next week to clear doubts of factory owners.

Zafar said that notices against unrelated lands would be dismissed while all obstacles in the way of industrial progress would be removed.

The commissioner assured they would take every step to make business flourish in the city.

He hailed RCCI’s recommendation for new parking plazas in the city and said that all projects would be initiated soon.

Private transporters accused of overcharging   

RCCI President Malik Shahid Saleem, said that chamber had already launched Glorious Rawalpindi Project (GRP) and was working with district administration and civic departments particularly Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) and Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) for the beautification of the city, preservation of historic buildings and transforming the city as a tourist attraction.

Further, the chairman project, Asad Mushhadi, gave a presentation about the project in which different suggestions were given to improve Murree Road’s beauty, restoration of historic buildings, propagation of cultural activities, food court and improvement of recreational sites. He also briefed about the chamber’s on-going activities.

Price control committee

In a bid to control prices of daily-use items, the district government will form price control committees at Union Council (UC) level.

The decision was taken in a meeting against artificial inflation between lawmakers from Rawalpindi and Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner (DC) Muhammad Ali Randhawa. The meeting was attended by Federal Parliamentary Secretary Sheikh Rashid Rafiq, Provincial Parliamentary Secretary Revenue Muhammad Adnan Chaudhry, Punjab Education Foundation Chairman Wasiq Qayyum, Parliamentary Secretary Jails Haji Amjad, Raja Sagheer and Umar Tanvir Butt.

During the meeting, the lawmakers expressed extreme displeasure on hiked prices and said that prices had been under control during Ramazan however things had gone out of control now. They demanded that there should be crackdowns against profiteers on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, it was decided in the meeting that the price control committee would also include three or four active citizens from every Union Council to keep a check on prices in their respective areas. In this regard, a notification with members’ names would be issued as well.

The members would be authorised to inform assistant commissioners (ACs) against profiteers after which related action would be taken.

The DC said that profiteers would be imposed with heavy fines and sent to Adiala Jail for three days. He added that shops that continue to fleece customers may end up getting sealed.

Representatives updated

During the same meeting, the DC said that around Rs12.5 billion have been earmarked for 200 development schemes in Rawalpindi district.

The DC informed the lawmakers that most of the funds for 164 on-going and 36 new development schemes have been released. He added that different projects were in progress under community, annual, rural and sustainable development goal achievement programme 2018-19. The DC said that most of the projects were related to education, health, highways and local government.

He added that the projects were started to facilitate the masses.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2019.