LAHORE - A meeting to chalk out the scope of work for the proposed horticulture institute in Bagh-e-Jinnah Lahore was convened under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary Punjab Shamail Ahmad Khawaja on Wednesday at Civil Secretariat.

PHA Vice Chairman Agha Iftikhar Ahmad, Secretary Housing & Urban Development Punjab Khurram Agha, DG PHA Shakeel Ahmad and other senior officers of the relevant departments attended. The meeting finalised the recommendations regarding proposed organisation of “Quaid-i-Azam Institute of Horticulture & Landscaping” Lahore to be established in Bagh-e-Jinnah at a piece of three acre of land and decided that the scope of this proposed institute will cover the whole province of the Punjab including parks and horticulture authorities established in nine big cities of Punjab.

The existing staff of all the nine PHAs of the province and owners of floral nurseries will also have to go through the certification process in the proposed institute.

The chief minister has already approved a grant amounting to Rs85 million for this project. After the formation of the board of management for proposed Quaid-i-Azam Institute o f Horticulture & Landscaping Lahore, the board members will identify the upgraded advance courses to impart training to students and floriculture lovers both from the public and private sectors in horticulture and landscaping on modem lines through collaboration with national and international horticulture organizations.  The proposed institute will be under the administrative control of PHA Lahore and most of the visiting faculty shall constitute of local and foreign experts hired from the open market.

The latest techniques to grow fona and flora will be introduced in the Tissue Lab of the proposed institute on the models of Japan, Australia, Malaysia and Britannia.