–People express disappointment over lack of commodities, poor quality of food items
—Market committee inspector says admin trying its best to facilitate customers
LAHORE: The terrible situation and lack of facilities at Ramzan bazaars set up in various parts of the city have exposed the tall claims of the administration, a survey conducted by Pakistan Today revealed.
As per the details, the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) has set up Ramzan bazaars in different parts of the provincial capital during the holy month to facilitate the citizens, however, the situation on the ground belies the claims made by the government vis-a-vis facilities like provision of trolleys, cleanliness, complaint centres, commodities and presence of officials on site to help resolve public complaints in all bazaars.
While sugar, dates, beef and mutton stalls are nowhere to be found in the bazaars, fruits and vegetables are of low quality and are being sold at exorbitant prices. The citizens are also found complaining about the lack of toileting facilities.
A citizen, Muhammad Tahir, while speaking to Pakistan Today expressed disappointment at the Ramzan bazaar set up in the Shadman area of the city. “I wanted to purchase meat for Iftar but when I reached there at 3:15 pm, the meat (mutton and beef) was missing and I could not find even a single stall to purchase it from. When I complained to the CDGL staff about the dearth of meat, they said I had come in late as meat is available only till 1:30 pm.”
Meat vendor Irfan Khan said that meat was there in an abundant quantity at the bazaar before 1:30 pm. “There exists a huge demand for meat during the holy month and it is sold out within a couple of hours for this very reason,” he said and added that they were now arranging more meat so that people didn’t have to face any such problems.
Ahmed Khan, another citizen, complained about the low quality of commodities in the bazaar. “The prices of lemons, peaches and watermelons to name a few are higher than that in the open market. Further, the quality of essential commodities is quite low. What is the purpose of setting up these bazaars?” he questioned.
It was observed by this correspondent during the survey that trolleys were missing at the bazaar and so the people were forced to hire porters – a majority of them minor boys – to carry their groceries to cars. Not only this but, porters were also seen overcharging the customers.
Market Committee Inspector Muhammad Riaz, while speaking to Pakistan Today, said the administration was trying its best to provide maximum facilities to the customers in the Ramzan bazaars. When his attention was drawn to the shortage of sugar and meat, he said, “The provincial government has not provided sugar at the bazaars as of yet and it is not the responsibility of the city district government to bring it here. As far as meat is concerned, the administration has asked the meat stall owners to bring in more meat. They themselves have also assessed the situation now,” he added.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting to review the facilities being provided at Ramzan Bazaars.
During the meeting, CM Shehbaz directed the authorities and ministers concerned to provide top quality food items to citizens at low price at the bazaars and ordered them to personally check the quality and prices of daily-use commodities there.