Uplift schemes: Rawalpindi, Chaklala cantt boards approve development projects

Several suggestions including demarcation, contractual worker extensions

ISLAMABAD: The cantonment boards or Rawalpindi and Chaklala took several important decisions in separate in-camera meetings on Thursday.

Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) also awarded a three-month extension to 64 contractual employees of Food Street, located on Bank Road. The Food Street generates Rs300,000 in revenue, while employee salaries totalled roughly Rs1 million.

An executive of the cantonment board had abstained from granting the extension himself and referred it to the board.

The board also approved a budget of over Rs6.4 million for medicines for the only civil hospital in its limits. In 30 cases of residential and commercial buildings that violated the approved plans, the board awarded small penalties and regularised them. A sum of Rs5 million was allocated for a dispensary in Lalkurti.

The board also decided to charge IESCO Rs49.529 million under property tax, ground rent, pole rent, and other fees. IESCO had earlier sent a notice to RCB asking them to waive their dues of RS109.19 million. On the recommendation of the Public Account Committee, the board noted that RCB had already waived Rs8.86 billion in IESCO dues.

The meeting was also told that only Rs198 million was available in the monthly account of the cantonment till September 2015.

Several suggestions, including demarcation of the boundary in connection with uplifting the cantonment were also approved in the meeting.

The board decided that health and water supply systems would be upgraded, and that the education policy should also be worked on.

Chaklala Cantonment

The Chaklala Cantonment Board awarded its retired officer Shaukat Raza Malik a six-month extension after his three-month contract expired. The extension seems to be in violation of a government policy wherein no retired person from any department would be hired on contract basis.

Separately, the board dismissed an application filed by former President Muhammad Ayub Khan’s son seeking the conversion of a 28-Kanal residential plot into a commercial building. Khan’s son, Tahir Ayub, had requested the board to rezone his residential building as he wished to build a service station and workshops at the site.

Tahir’s application was dismissed on the grounds that the site was being acquired by the army.

Re-carpeting of Imran Khan Avenue in Chaklala Scheme 3 and a two-month extension in the contract for cleaning the area was also approved. Another Rs5 million was allocated for upgradation of MT workshop, whileRs200,000 was marked for building speed breakers in different areas.

The board also approved a grant of Rs118,000 to build the CCB website.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2015.