LAHORE   -  Provincial Minister for Local Government & Community Development Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed has directed the officers concerned to expedite work on development schemes being carried out under the Punjab Cities Program.

He was addressing a meeting of Punjab Municipal Development Fund Company on Thursday. Secretary Local Government Noor-ul-Amin Mengal, Vice Chairman WASA imtiaz Sheikh, Addl. Secretary Development Shahid Zaman Luck, MD Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Program Umer Jhangeer and MD Punjab Citizen Programme also attended the meeting.

The Secretary Local Government briefed the Minister about ongoing projects including Punjab Cities Program and Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Investment Program.

The provincial minister directed the officers to fulfill all legal requirements for procurement to ensure the smooth working on the projects.

Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed also issued instructions to devise an effective monitoring mechanism of development schemes. He asserted that as per the vision of the Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, transparency in development projects is the top priority of the government. He assured that provision of high quality municipal services to the citizens will be ensured.

He said that Local Government department will be turned into a model institution of public service, adding that all civic facilities will be provided at the doorsteps of the citizens.

Secretary Local Government Noor-ul-Amin Mengal told the meeting that under Punjab Cities Program work on setting up the municipal infrastructure is being carried out at the cost of 34 billions rupees in 16 cities of the province. He added that water supply, sewerage, solid waste management, public parks and installation of street lights is being carried out under the programme. He said that development projects have been designed in accordance with the International standards.

In the first phase of Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Investment Program, development works are underway in Sialkot and Sahiwal with an amount of Rs 44 billion. In the second phase of the program, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan, DG Khan, Bahawalpur and Multan will be included, he added.