| RAWALPINDI: Station Commander Brig Salman Nazar on Friday directed Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) to form a committee to coordinate with cantonment traders to solve the issues of property tax and encroachments in bazaars from next week.
“I will monitor the committee on a weekly basis. It is our duty to provide better civic facilities to the residents and a conducive environment for business activities in cantonment areas,” Mr Nazar said while talking to a delegation of traders led by Zahid Bakhtawari.
He said a committee would be constituted to solve the issues of property tax under the Cantonment Act, 1924 and the RCB would make its recommendations under the policy.
RCB Cantonment Executive Officer Imran Gulzar, Maj Mohammad Amjad and other senior officials were present on the occasion.
The issue of taxes, sanitation, street lights, public toilets, parking, construction and maintenance of roads and non-availability of graveyard sites was discussed in the meeting.
Traders raised the issue of problems in Tench Bhatta and the station commander asked the RCB officials to present him a report after visiting the site within three to four days.
He assured the traders that all resources would be utilised, however the RCB had to give a lot of subsidy in terms of water supply, health and education and a maximum chunk of the annual budget was spent on this subsidy and other mandatory expenses.
With reference to cleanliness, the meeting was informed that the RCB had completed procurement of garbage containers and necessary vehicles for cleaning and a private firm had been hired to transport garbage collected from streets and roads to a landfill site. He said that 14 big drains had been cleaned last month.
About encroachments, the station commander said that the civic body would implement a zero tolerance policy against encroachments, adding that the enforcement cell had been informed to launch an operation against encroachments without any prejudice.
He sought help of the business community to make public toilets in bazaars, markets and main roads. He said that though, the RCB was working towards establishing public toilets, there was need of help from the business community in this regard. He said that the civic body had been asked to ensure that all street lights would be in working condition for the convenience of citizens as soon as possible.
“The RCB already earmarked 200 kanals of land for the graveyard in the cantonment area. Funeral buses would be procured to provide transportation of dead bodies and participants of funerals from their house to the new graveyard,” he said.
The business community was asked to create awareness among its members regarding illegal construction, encroachment, and manholes so that better facilities could be provided to residents.
Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2023 |
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