Governor’s House opens to public today

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announced on Saturday to open the historic Governor’s House to the general public today.

The provincial government has decided to open the palatial building that serves as official residence and workplace of the provincial governor after the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will open the Governor’s House Peshawar for general public from today.

A spokesman told the media that initially the Governor’s House would be open to public on Sundays. However, he didn’t give any timing schedule and other details for the visitors.

He added that on its first opening day students of two girls collages would visit the Governor’s House and in future the historic building would be opened to families.

However, he did not specify the limits to which the public would be allowed to stroll into the lawns and compound of the Governor’s House.

The Governor’s House is a historic building in Peshawar. Built after the formation of the chief commissioner’s province (previously named as North West Frontier Province and now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) as Government House, it ceased to be the official residence and workplace of British-era chief commissioners of the province.

The Governor’s House was commissioned in the early 20th century by the British. The famous British-era contractor Khan Bahadur Nawab Abdul Hameed Khan of Badrashi was contracted to build the building in a traditional Greco-Roman architecture design prevalent in other grand British buildings across India at that time.

Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived here on his maiden one-day visit after being elected as premier of the country. He chaired the provincial cabinet meeting on Friday and got updated on the performance of the provincial government vis-a-vis his 100-day plan.

He directed the provincial government to open the Governor’s House to general public. He also directed the official quarters to make arrangements to open another legendry public place Balahisar Fort to the public.

The fort currently houses the Frontier Corps (FC) headquarters. The prime minister directed the authorities concerned to find alternate place for the headquarters of the paramilitary force in the province.

The prime minister, while chairing the meeting of the task force on reforms in the erstwhile tribal areas, directed it to expedite the post-merger task so that former tribal belt could be streamlined.

He reiterated that the local government elections in the recently merged districts were essential and the government was planning to hold these elections in the province, including the newly merged districts simultaneously.

The prime minister was also briefed on the plan prepared to amend the local government system in the province under which the district nazims would be elected directly on the pattern of the mayors.

Imran Khan urged the provincial cabinet members to put in more intensified efforts and work hard to provide relief to the people in their respective sectors.

The prime minister also announced to launch a “Clean and Green Pakistan” campaign throughout the country on 7 October.

Provincial government spokesman Shaukat Yousafzai said the October 7 campaign would not be just one-day activity, but the prime minister directed the authorities to ensure the cleanliness campaign on every weekend.

He said Imran Khan had asked the governor and other authorities to expedite the Fata reforms process. “Without solving the complex issues of extension of the police and judiciary to the merged districts, it would be difficult to hold the local government elections,” he added.

He maintained that Defence Minister Pervez Khattak was tasked to talk to the Frontier Corps and Defence Ministry to open the historical Balahisar Fort for tourists.

However, he said the fort would be vacated from FC once the force was given an alternate place for its headquarters.

Yousafzai, who is also member of the provincial assembly, said the cabinet members briefed the prime minister on their plans and performance.