Road congestion: Park-and-ride plaza opens to public
Shahbaz Sharif inaugurates the first park-and-ride plaza in Liberty.
LAHORE:
Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated the first park-and-ride plaza in Liberty on Wednesday.
During his address, Shahbaz hoped that the public would “feel the difference” with the completion of the plaza. “Free flow of traffic will be possible and there will be no parking problems,” he said. He also warned the traffic police that they would be held responsible if traffic congestion and parking problems in and around Liberty continued.
The chief minister also assured the media that the auction process for the shops and restaurants in the plaza will be transparent. Shahbaz also directed the LDA to allocate “up to five shops in the plaza to widows and orphans of Lahore. “Devise the policy carefully,” Shahbaz advised the LDA, “so that only the deserving get the benefit.”
On the occasion, Shahbaz said that he intended to construct 10 parking plazas in congested areas of the city. While praising the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) for achieving the target he had set for the authority, the chief minister said, “I am assigning a new target to the LDA. I hope that these plazas will be completed in a year.” Shahbaz Sharif told the media that the construction of two parking plazas in Moon Market (Allama Iqbal Town) and Neela Gumbad will be started within the next 20 days. He also promised more parking plazas throughout Punjab, especially in the provincial capital.
308 cars and 150 motorcycles can be parked in the park-and-ride plaza. The cars can be parked by paying an hourly charge of Rs20. There is no parking fee for motorbikes.
Eight laws amended
The Punjab cabinet on Wednesday approved eight amendment bills regarding the working of ministries being transferred to the provinces under the 18th amendment.
The approval was given during a meeting held at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat. During the meeting, the Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, also constituted a committee for the elimination of corruption. He directed the committee members to present its recommendations in the next cabinet meeting, which if approved, will later be presented in the Punjab Assembly.
According to the chief secretary, Nasir Mehmood Khosa, a committee – constituted to deal with issues that will follow the devolution of powers to provinces – had formulated 18 amendment bills out of which eight regarding Revenue, Health, Labour and Auqaf were presented on Wednesday.
The cabinet approved proposed amendments to the Trust Act, 1882; Transfer of Property Act, 1882; the Partition Act, 1908; the Punjab Epidemic Disease Act, 2010; the Injured Persons (Medical Aid) Act, 2004; the Employment of Children Act, 1991; the Employment (Record of Services) Act, 1951; and the Punjab Publication of Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing and Recording Errors) Act, 2010. The meeting also approved the annual report of the Punjab Public Service Commission for 2009.
Addressing the cabinet members Shahbaz Shari said that he had also given his approval for setting up of an authority in order to eliminate hoarding, adulteration of food items and stabilising their prices. A draft law will soon be submitted for review, Sharif said.
During the meeting Sharif also expressed his displeasure with the way the annual confidential reports (ACRs) of government officers and officials were being written. “In the past these reports were a true reflection of the performance of the officers but now they aren’t written in a ‘proper manner’,” the chief minister said. He directed that the previous standard of writing ACRs be restored.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2010.
Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated the first park-and-ride plaza in Liberty on Wednesday.
During his address, Shahbaz hoped that the public would “feel the difference” with the completion of the plaza. “Free flow of traffic will be possible and there will be no parking problems,” he said. He also warned the traffic police that they would be held responsible if traffic congestion and parking problems in and around Liberty continued.
The chief minister also assured the media that the auction process for the shops and restaurants in the plaza will be transparent. Shahbaz also directed the LDA to allocate “up to five shops in the plaza to widows and orphans of Lahore. “Devise the policy carefully,” Shahbaz advised the LDA, “so that only the deserving get the benefit.”
On the occasion, Shahbaz said that he intended to construct 10 parking plazas in congested areas of the city. While praising the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) for achieving the target he had set for the authority, the chief minister said, “I am assigning a new target to the LDA. I hope that these plazas will be completed in a year.” Shahbaz Sharif told the media that the construction of two parking plazas in Moon Market (Allama Iqbal Town) and Neela Gumbad will be started within the next 20 days. He also promised more parking plazas throughout Punjab, especially in the provincial capital.
308 cars and 150 motorcycles can be parked in the park-and-ride plaza. The cars can be parked by paying an hourly charge of Rs20. There is no parking fee for motorbikes.
Eight laws amended
The Punjab cabinet on Wednesday approved eight amendment bills regarding the working of ministries being transferred to the provinces under the 18th amendment.
The approval was given during a meeting held at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat. During the meeting, the Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif, also constituted a committee for the elimination of corruption. He directed the committee members to present its recommendations in the next cabinet meeting, which if approved, will later be presented in the Punjab Assembly.
According to the chief secretary, Nasir Mehmood Khosa, a committee – constituted to deal with issues that will follow the devolution of powers to provinces – had formulated 18 amendment bills out of which eight regarding Revenue, Health, Labour and Auqaf were presented on Wednesday.
The cabinet approved proposed amendments to the Trust Act, 1882; Transfer of Property Act, 1882; the Partition Act, 1908; the Punjab Epidemic Disease Act, 2010; the Injured Persons (Medical Aid) Act, 2004; the Employment of Children Act, 1991; the Employment (Record of Services) Act, 1951; and the Punjab Publication of Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing and Recording Errors) Act, 2010. The meeting also approved the annual report of the Punjab Public Service Commission for 2009.
Addressing the cabinet members Shahbaz Shari said that he had also given his approval for setting up of an authority in order to eliminate hoarding, adulteration of food items and stabilising their prices. A draft law will soon be submitted for review, Sharif said.
During the meeting Sharif also expressed his displeasure with the way the annual confidential reports (ACRs) of government officers and officials were being written. “In the past these reports were a true reflection of the performance of the officers but now they aren’t written in a ‘proper manner’,” the chief minister said. He directed that the previous standard of writing ACRs be restored.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2010.