Potentially rich Jubilee Town portraying a sorry figure

The track record of Lahore Development Authority (LDA) with regard to developing housing schemes with complete infrastructure and the provision of basic facilities has never been ideal. Jubilee Town’s name is on top of the list among these ignored housing schemes planned and launched by the province’s wealthiest development authority.
Like many newly-developed housing societies under the LDA’s banner, Jubilee Town is struggling with developmental and infrastructural problems.
Jubilee Town was inaugurated by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Pakistan’s golden jubilee in 1997 but even after passage of more than 15 years, the society presents the look of a jungle and a ghost city.
Neither has the commercial area, shown in the documents, been handed over to the allottees, nor has the school, mosque, playground, park or medical center been established. Though a water supply tank is present, it remains un-operational resulting in the residents digging up their own wells to extract water.
Furthermore, there is no sewerage line in many parts of the colony and even where the line has been laid, it is not functional. There is no street lighting system in the whole of the town that creates enormous problems for the residents.
Moreover, in the absence of street lights and security arrangements or police patrolling, soon after the sunset, individuals enter the society and carry out immoral activities, including the extremely common alcohol consumption.
The three or four security personnel never try to prevent such activities and instead remain busy minting money from vendors, waste collectors and cattle owners. The colony’s so-called security office has become a mere sleeping room for security personnel.
There was no Sui Gas line laid down by the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline (SNGPL) for a long time but as a result of the personal effort of society’s residents, at their own expense, a gas line was installed but it is still missing from many places owing to which most residents have been forced to use costly LPG.
Moreover, electricity transformers supply less electricity than the required capacity.
Additionally, the accumulated rain and sewer water is serving as a breeding ground for the phenomenal growth of mosquitoes causing the dengue virus throughout the city. The chances of dengue outbreak after the fresh monsoon rains are extremely high as a lot of rain water has accumulated into the society’s empty plots.
The Punjab Dental Hospital’s building has been established but it is yet to start functioning.
A resident of the society, Chaudhary Sadaq, alleged that to intentionally escalate the value of Bahria Town’s plots, the pace of development work at the Jubilee Town and Mohniwal Town had been kept slow. He added that although these schemes were launched about 20 years ago, the prices of their plots had depreciated while those of plots at Bahria and Izmir Town had appreciated.
Furthermore, he stated that LDA was well known for mismanagement and corruption and its performance.
When contacted, LDA Public Relations Director Sohail Janjua said that LDA developed the society but after the completion of infrastructure, it had given possession of Jubilee Town’s plots to the allottees, and then had nothing to do with the society. It was LESCO which had to provide electricity connections to the residents, WASA to rectify all sewers, sanitation and water supply matters, while the SNGPL had to provide gas connections to the residents. Furthermore, he said that the Allama Iqbal Town TMA had to look after all other affairs.
Residents of Jubilee Town have pleaded to the chief minister to take action to provide missing facilities at the society which was his own brainchild.