The seriousness with which Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT)’s administration takes spreading awareness as a counter-measure against the dengue epidemic can be gauged from the fact that the webpage they launched on Saturday for the purpose offered no information whatsoever on Monday.
On Saturday, ICT announced that it had launched a webpage on its website about preventive measures against the dengue virus and relevant updates to this effect. However, there is no such webpage or information on the ICT official website, Pakistan Today observed. Commenting on this situation, the residents of the Federal Capital were of the view that it seemed the administration was not serious about tackling the dengue threat. The ICT’s official press release issued on Saturday stated, “Following the directions of the Chief Commissioner Islamabad Tariq Mahmood Pirzada, the ICT administration has launched the webpage with information about preventive measures against dengue on its website www.ictadministration.gov.pk for the information of the citizens, as part of an on-going public health education and social mobilisation drive.” Talking to Pakistan Today on Monday, the commissioner’s office spokesman said that the IT department was engaged in developing the webpage. In the evening he contacted Pakistan Today and said that the webpage had been developed. However, till the filing of this report at 5:13 am the webpage was being developed. A source in ICT said that after the inquiry of Pakistan Today, the IT department was rallied and emergency action was taken to develop the webpage. “It is expected that now webpage will be developed in very short time,” he added.
