LAHORE
Valuables worth hundreds of thousands of rupees were burnt in an incident of fire in a house in Defence-A on Monday.
Rescue officials said that fire broke out in a house in DHA X-block. Residents tried to control it but failed on which they called Rescue 1122. Rescue teams reached the spot on information and controlled fire. No loss of life or injury was reported.
Meanwhile,valuables worth hundreds of thousands of rupees were burnt in an incident of fire in a godown in Qila Gujjar Singh on Monday.
Rescue officials said that fire broke out in a house in furniture godown near Dayal Singh College, Lakshami Chowk. Locals tried to control it but failed on which they called Rescue 1122. Rescue teams reached the spot on information and controlled the fire.
A victim was stranded at the rooftop of the godown. When the fire engulfed the whole building, he jumped from the building to save life. He was admitted in hospital for treatment.
Scottish team: A special delegation from Scotland arrived in Lahore on Monday to present 10 paramedics motorbikes for training of the staff being recruited for the Motorbike Ambulance Service, a special initiative of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, for the accidents and emergency victims.
The delegation led by Hanzala Malik, former member of Scottish Parliament and Baillie of Glasgow City, Haleema Malik, former Baillie Mayor Glasgow City Council, Muhammad Razzaq, Baillie, Mayor, Glasgow City Councillor, Muhammad Ramzan, Chair of Vision Again Association, Tariq Sadiq, Chair Glasgow Business Forum, Mehrban Sadiq, Fire Officer and special guest with Tyne and Wear Fire & Rescue Service (AFSA), Newcastle, was welcomed by DG Rescue Punjab Dr Rizwan Naseer flanked by senior officers.
Speaking on this occasion, Hanzala Malik said they were going to present 10 paramedics motorbikes for training to support the vision and special initiative of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for the people who were at greater risk due to number of reasons whether there were narrow streets, or congested traffic conditions, the motorbikes would prove to be an asset in terms of reducing response times.
He said as a part of this scheme, we have already trained officers from Rescue 1122 in Scotland, they have come back and we are going to issue them 10 motorbikes fit for purpose and they will be used to ensure that other officers will benefit from the training so that once the chief minister launches Motorbike Paramedic Service we will have the personnel ready, able and fit to deliver effectively.
He said this was a visionary idea of the chief minister in which the Service would not only respond in time but also we are very confident it would enhance the ability of saving lives and improve the response time tremendously. He said that ordinary people did not seem to understand the time factor in reaching people with issues like heart attacks, strokes, deep wounds, serious accidents and he has confidence that this service would go a long way in saving the quality of the lives of the people.
DG Rescue Punjab Dr Rizwan Naseer thanked Hanzala Malik for his kind cooperation in imparting training of Rescue officers/instructors of Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122), which led to establishment of a Modern Fire Service in Pakistan in 2007. DG Rescue Punjab said that Hanzala Malik is the true heavyweight for Pakistan, as a result of his efforts twinning of Lahore-Glasgow took place, MoU was signed between Rescue 1122 and Strethclyde Fire & Rescue Service.
He briefed that as result of the contribution of the Scottish Fire Service, today Rescue 1122 has responded to over 87,000 fire incidents in Punjab just because of the timely response and professional fire fighting, this modern fire service has saved losses worth over Rs200 billion. He said that all this would not have been possible without the support of Scotland and Hanzala Malik is true patriot of Pakistan.
Overseas Pakistanis: Commissioner, Overseas Pakistanis Commission, (OPC) Punjab, Afzaal Bhatti has said that keeping in view the importance of overseas Pakistanis in strengthening the national economy, the Punjab government has always treated them as VIPs, as they are torch-bearers of Pakistani traditions abroad.
Talking to a delegation of Overseas Pakistanis, Afzaal Bhatti said that Punjab had plenty of potential, resources and opportunities for overseas Pakistanis and they should invest in different sectors of the province.
He said the Punjab government had introduced pro-business environment and a positive policy-framework to generate foreign and domestic investment.
Afzaal Bhatti said that OPC, Punjab was playing an active role in solving the problems, faced by the overseas Pakistanis related to government agencies in the Punjab, while district level committees were also fully functional to address the issues of overseas Pakistanis. On the instructions of the chief minister, Punjab Board of Investment and Trade is providing complete technical assistance to potential investors to set up new projects in the province and OPC is an integral part of the efforts to generate foreign investment, concluded Commissioner OPC.
Five buildings sealed: Staff of Recovery Directorate Town Planning Wing of LDA sealed five residential buildings in Johar Town and PIA Housing Scheme which were being illegally used for commercial purposes, without getting permission and depositing commercialisation fee to LDA. The LDA officials said these properties included 863/R-1, 864/R-1 and 384/D of Johar Town and 45/D and 201/C of PIA Housing Scheme. They said the drive against misuse of residential buildings for commercial purposes would continue.
