IMC lacked funds to maintain F-9 Park

Federal ombudsman orders formation of citizen’s supervisory body for the park

ISLAMABAD:

The elected Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) of the federal capital not only lacked sufficient funds but also did not have the requisite financial rules to use available funds to maintain the Sector F-9 Park. As a result, the federal ombudsman formed a committee to oversee repair and restoration work there.

Federal Ombudsman Syed Tahir Shahbaz had taken notice of the poor maintenance of parks in the federal capital. With regards to the Sector F-9 Park - also known as Fatima Jinnah Park - the ombudsman observed that since it is the biggest park in Pakistan, its maintenance level must be up to mark, his office said on Wednesday.

He had subsequently constituted a six-member committee to identify issues in the park and provide proposals, which can be subsequently be implemented by the IMC using available resources.

The committee was headed by WMS Senior Adviser Ejaz Qureshi and included Implementation Adviser Maj Gen (retired) Ghulam Dastagir, Additional Secretary Aftab Durrani, IMC Parks Director Irfan Niazi, Sector F-9 Park Deputy Director Fayyaz Kanwar, and Sector F-9 Park Manager Junaid Afzal as members.

The committee held several meetings apart from visiting the park to ascertain problems.

It found that half of all machinery in the park was out of order, including tankers and tractors. They all required major repairs.

Moreover, the committee observed the dilapidated condition of the park and missing facilities such as poor utilization of available funding, lack of seasonal flowers, absence of sweepers, uneven tracks, poor condition of open-air theatre, security concerns after sunset, lack of tuck shops and absent medical cover etc.

The committee also observed that the park had generated around Rs1.5 million in a month, but the money was not utilised on the park because the IMC did not have any financial rules to use the money.

The committee subsequently put forth several proposals to restore the park. As a result of these proposals, street lights were energised in the park, while a solar power plant was repaired and made functional.

Moreover, a tender for the repair of washrooms in the park was floated, repair of gadgets in the kids’ play area was outsourced, all damaged jogging tracks were repaired, uniformed security guards were posted, an ambulance was parked on standby in the park, horticulture machinery was provided, drinking water provision was ensured, a first aid centre was set up, seasonal flowers were made available and numbering of park assents was ensured.

The six-member committee further suggested that a citizen’s supervisory committee should be formed to observe maintenance work in the park.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2020.