According to a notification issued by the Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, The authority will comprise 13 members, including the chairman and vice-chairman.
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar would be the chairman of the new authority while his nominated representative would be its vice-chairman.
The members of the authority would include secretaries of Tourism, Finance, and Planning and Development, director generals (DGs) of the Walled City Authority, Archaeology and Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab, two MPAs and tourism experts and one environmental expert. The vice-chairman of the new authority will be nominated next week. The authority will work on the promotion of tourism, identifying new tourism spots, provision of facilities to local and international tourists and preservation of heritage sites in Punjab.
The Punjab government has decided to start work on 10 archaeological protection and restoration projects during the upcoming financial year, Adviser to CM on Horticulture and Tourism Asif Mehmood said.
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Top on the list are Taxila Museum, Lahore Museum and Lahore Fort, he said. “Tourists are often attracted towards aged beautiful architecture and persona of historical places across the world therefore we are aiming to attract tourists through restoration of the lost glory of these magnificent structures,” he explained.
Moreover, he said there was a need to develop new tourist spots in the province. World Bank has already transferred funds to the Punjab government to transform the province into a model tourist destination.
Among the projects is one for transforming Chakwal into a tourist destination, with the district boasting lakes of different sizes and has been declared as the “district of lakes”.
The Dharabi Lake in Chakwal will be developed as per international standards. Once complete, it will sport cycle boating, a volleyball court and other activities for visitors.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2021.
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