CM Usman Buzdar lays foundation of Firdous Market Underpass

LAHORE:Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar laid the foundation stone of Firdous Market Underpass Project here Monday.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said that Rs1.76 billion would be spent on the project, which included the land acquisition cost also. Giving details, he said the construction cost was estimated at Rs1.09 billion. However, the government conducted a transparent tendering process and awarded the construction contract for Rs960 million, thus saving Rs130 million of the nation's money.

The chief minister commended the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) for saving Rs130 million, adding that the PTI government was custodian of every penny of the national exchequer.

The project was estimated to be completed in four months; however, the LDA had been directed to complete it in 90 days without compromising on quality of the construction work, he added. The chief minister said that he would personally supervise the project, just like those he was supervising in backward areas.

The public resources were plundered in the past, but the government had saved the public money, he added. Money-minting had been a basic aim of the past rulers, but this government was making the all-out effort to spend the public money on their welfare, added the CM.

Usman Buzdar said that the 540-metre long two-lane dual carriageway underpass would facilitate traffic from the adjoining areas, with special arrangements for water disposal.

He said around seven-kanal land would be acquired for the project, promising that no building at Firdous Market Chowk would be affected. The project would benefit more than 91,000 vehicles daily to save fuel worth millions of rupees annually, he said.

LDA Director General Ahmad Aziz Tarar briefed the chief minister about the project. Provincial Ministers Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed, Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan, Murad Raas, LDA Vice-Chairman Sheikh Muhammad Imran, Punjab Assembly members Sadia Sohail Rana, Umer Aftab Dhillon, Secretary Information, DC Lahore and others were also present.

Strategy: Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that a well-thought-out coronavirus control strategy is being pursued in the province as the government wanted to save people from the virus as well as hunger at the same time.

In a statement issued here Monday, he said that all decisions had been made through consultations, under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, to deal with the pandemic.

He pointed out that the opposition had no strategy or agenda for dealing with coronavirus and it was only indulging in point-scoring over the pandemic. He regretted that the opposition politicised important issue, but the Punjab government started working on eight new labs immediately which had become functional now.

He said that maximum tests were being conducted in Punjab compared with other provinces, and added that approval of setting up of four more labs had also been granted to enhance the diagnostic testing capacity. New labs were being set up in Sialkot and Sargodha in the first phase, he added.

Meanwhile, the daily testing capacity of Punjab had been increased to more than 6,000, he added. The chief minister said that Pakistan was facing unusual circumstances and the people’s cooperation was imperative to defeat the coronavirus pandemic. He said that people should exhibit a socially-responsible behaviour after the opening of markets because they would remain safe by following the precautions.