Maryam sends 10 Darul Aman women on Haj

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, while meeting 10 elderly women living in Darul Aman before sending them to perform Haj, said on Wednesday that elderly women are like our mothers, they should be taken care of and should not suffer.

She requested the women to offer prayers for the security and prosperity of Pakistan. PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif also came there to meet the women on their request. Nawaz said good time for the poor has come. “Had our government not been disrupted, poverty and unemployment would have ended.” He requested the elderly women to pray for Pakistan during Haj. The 10 women, their in-charge Sumaira Aslam and her assistant are leaving for Saudi Arabia on a 21-day Haj journey. Maryam Nawaz in her message on the World Environment Protection Day said environmental pollution is a challenge for the whole world, including Pakistan. She added: “The Punjab government has imposed a ban on the use, production, sale and trade of plastic bags. The use of plastic bags is having harmful effects on the environment and human health. The plastic ban policy will be strictly enforced throughout the province. The use of plastic bags will be banned in hotels, restaurants and eateries. Instead of plastic bags, eco-friendly alternatives like cotton bags should be used.”

Maryam said we are launching a special awareness campaign to make people aware of the harmful effects of plastic pollution.

Meanwhile, Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday met a thalassaemia patient, Muhammad Rizwan, and gave him a cheque of Rs5 lakh. Also, on the direction of Maryam Nawaz, Rs3 lakh financial aid for the treatment of Punjabi poet Tajjamul Kaleem has been approved. The CM directed the Health Department to provide excellent treatment facilities to the poet under treatment at the Jinnah Hospital.