Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that politicians, generals, judges and elite families have been becoming owners of houses but for the first time in the 64 years’ history of the country, government of Pakistan Muslim League-N has made the labourers owner of their houses for providing shelter to them. He said that if the opportunity of service to the masses was provided, houses will be built for workers and labourers throughout the country so that the labourers should become prosperous and Pakistan makes progress.
He said that construction of hospitals, educational institutions and residential colonies for labourers was the dream of PML-N Cheif Nawaz Sharif and Punjab government had materialised his dream by completing a project consisting of 1,296 residential flats at a cost of more than Rs 2 billion for labourers on Defence Road. He said provision of residential flats to the labourers free of cost through transparent balloting in labour colony was an important step towards making Pakistan of Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal.
He was addressing a ceremony of distributing keys of houses to lucky labourers in labour colony on Defence Road. Nawaz Sharif was the chief guest. Provincial Ministers Ch Abdul Ghafoor, Haji Ehsanuddin Qureshi, Malik Nadeem Kamran, members National and Provincial Assembly, intellectuals, labour leaders and a large number of workers were also present on this occasion.
Shahbaz said the workers earned money for the country through their hard work and struggle for the progress and prosperity of the country but it was lamentable that the corrupt rulers sitting in Islamabad had no concern with the welfare of the builders of the country.
“Their main aim is to plunder the national wealth and fill their pockets but time has come to recover the robbed money from the corrupt rulers and get rid of them,” he added.
The CM said Ali Baba 40 thieves had plunged the country into darkness and this corrupt gang has not only caused irreparable loss to the economy of Punjab but also to the country. He said step-motherly attitude was being meted out to Punjab regarding electricity load-shedding and a loss of Rs 300 billion was being caused to the economy of Punjab in a year. He said the industries were being forced to shut down due to which export orders of billion of rupees had been cancelled and millions of labourers rendered jobless.
Shahbaz said sports grounds, school, hospital and all other basic amenities of life had been provided in the labour colony but anti-labour federal government had not provided electricity to this colony only for the reason that PML-N government had built it. He warned that if electricity was not provided to this colony within few days, then he will raise full voice against PEPCO and LESCO jointly with the labourers.
BUS RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM: Separately, the CM said provision of quality, comfortable and rapid transport facilities to the masses is the mission of the government. He disclosed that besides introducing Bus Rapid Transit System of international standard in the province, a project of plying air-conditioned CNG public transport in Lahore, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, Multan, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Sialkot had also been prepared. He said not only an organised and comfortable public transport facility in collaboration with private sector would be available to the people under this project but labourers, workers, students, women and employees will especially benefit from it.
He was presiding over an important meeting held with regard to modernising the public transport system in the province.
The CM disclosed that Bus Rapid Transit Authority would be set up for running Metro Bus Service for which necessary legislation will be made. He said that Metro Bus Service is a paradigm shift in transport system in Pakistan through which travelling facilities of international standard would be available to the people. He said that special arrangements would be made for the disabled and senior citizens in this environment-friendly bus service and these buses will reach to their destination without delay.
Shahbaz returns the favour!
