Awaiting good times

Given the present pace of city growth and demands for municipal services, one cannot but agree with the raison d’etre of the city government. Yet, there are certain grave issues that need to be well thought-out. Civic bodies are assigned the task of providing public services to the city dwellers. What we have seen, so far, is that they have not been successful in providing adequate services.

“There are many hindrances obstructing provision of services to the city dwellers. The city government performance has been unimpressive in this regard. The core hitch is sleaze. Let’s look at a number of rising problems. Solid waste management is one of the responsibilities that have been overlooked badly. More than 50 per cent of the solid waste remains uncollected and is mostly discarded on the roadsides or into drains creating immense public health risks,” says Nazar Ali from Dhoke Kamal Deen.

“One cannot deny that the CG has not been doing well despite having adequate equipment and resources to dispose of the solid waste. Another dilemma, which the city dwellers are facing, has to do with the unbecoming drainage system. Most of the drains are in decrepit conditions. During the rainy season, city is swamped with the unexpected downpour and there is severe water logging in the drainage systems. Most of the drains are used for dumping as well. Service Road across Shah Faisal Avenue symbolises this administrative weakness,” says Feroze Hasan from Dhoke Lilhaal.

“The issue of public health is at stake due to unhygienic foodstuff served in the hotels and restaurants. There is a department in the city government to inspect this problem. The inspectors who are assigned to look into foodstuff hygiene have totally failed to do their job. Regrettably, most of the inspectors are won over by picky food or bribe from the crooked hotel or restaurant operators,” says Nemat Ali from Shah Khalid Colony.

Niaz Husain from Mangraal Town says: “Ordinary people’s sufferings and hardships in the public offices agonies have increased manifold during the last few years or so. People’s observation is that public offices are the places where red tape, dishonesty and other shady practices are common features.

“The city governance is a system of associations between different stakeholders to achieve the collective goal be it social, economic, environmental etc. Bad governance, which has blighted our city life, needs to be replaced with good governance,” says Arshad Alvi from Gulzar-e-Quaid. “I await good times but the realities obtaining in the city imply that people’s expectations of an administrative system that will be free from red tape, bribery and other forms of sleaze are not going to be materialised in the near future,” says Ghulam Reza from Dhoke Hafiz.

APP adds: A two-day Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) Family Gala and Food Festival kicked off here at Fatima Jinnah Park (F-9), featuring various cultural activities to entertain residents of capital city.

The annual Family gala is aimed to provide entertainment facilities to residents of capital city and ensure friendly police ecology and strengthen relations between police and public.

During two-day Gala a number of cultural events are be arranged including magic carnival, cartoons show, puppet characters, puppet show, fire dance, talent hunt, birds show, face painting, painting competition, photography competition and gifts hampers.

Local and traditional food stalls also set up at the premises of the two-day gala to entertain the food lovers.

In the festival ITP has set up stalls to raise awareness among the people about road safety and traffic rules.

Children also have an opportunity to enjoy various kinds of entertaining programmes including cultural show, puppet show and birds show etc.