LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar inaugurated three mega projects worth around 1.5 billion rupees and laid the foundation stones of two other schemes amounting to Rs. 22 crore in Kasur on Friday.
He inaugurated safe city project, Punjab Police Command, Control and Communication Centre and Rescue 1122 emergency service centres in Mustafabad and Khudian. He visited the safe city control centre where a briefing was given about the project. The Chief Minister also planted a sapling at the DPO office besides laying the foundation stone of construction of tehsil complex and residences for doctors and paramedical staff in the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital (THQ) in Kot Radha Kishan.
Talking on the occasion, the chief minister said that another promise has been fulfilled by the government today and hopefully the multipurpose safe city project will help to maintain peace by timely identification and arrest of criminals besides helping in other issues like emergency police response etc. The estimated cost of this project was 12 million dollars but the incumbent government has completed it with a cost of nine million dollars in seven months, which is the best example of transparency and speed, he added.
He further said that 450 CCTV cameras are installed in Kasur to keep an eye on the city. For this purpose, 160 kilometres long optical fibre cable has been laid and the latest equipment has been used. He disclosed that face recognition and automatic number-plate recognition systems will be installed in phases and hoped that this new technology will help in improving different issues. He said that PPIC-III system is interlinked with Lahore head office which would help in keeping an eye on Kasur district from Lahore. Meanwhile, cameras have been installed in all the police stations of provincial metropolis and police stations’ continued monitoring is being done from IG office and safe city centre, he said. He regretted that backward area remained deprived of the development process in the past but the PTI government will spread the development to the whole of the province of Punjab. Similarly, law & order is the right of every citizen and this would be extended to everyone, he said. The monitoring process through the safe city authority will be extended to all the big cities of the province. He also regretted that only announcements were made during the previous government but the incumbent government has taken practical steps and safe city centres will be established at all the divisional headquarters of the province. He said that safe city centres are also being established in Nankana Sahib and Sheikhupura and the concept of changing the archaic police culture is being given practical shape.
Later, a board meeting of Punjab Safe City Authority was held in Kasur under the chair of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar in which approval was given to amendments in-service regulations of safe city authority. The Chief Minister directed to constitute a high-level committee to settle the pending affairs pertaining to the safe city. It was decided to start a safe city project in Faisalabad and Rawalpindi through a public-private partnership. The chief minister directed to provide continuous electricity to the safe city Kasur office and asked the officers to work with renewed dedication and zeal. He said that the university will also be set up in Kasur. Complimentary certificates were also distributed in police officers and officials in recognition of their best performance by the Chief Minister. Provincial ministers Raja Basharat, Hashim Dogar, Asif Nakai, assembly members including Makhdoom Raza Ali and Sumaira Ahmed, chief secretary, IG police, ACS (Home) and others were also present on the occasion.