‘Punjab Safe City project will be launched in Pindi, DG Khan, Taunsa’

LAHORE: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has given DG Khan division the status of a separate region of prisons department.

On the direction of the chief minister, District Jails of Rajanpur, Layyah and Muzaffargarh, along with Central Jail DG Khan, had been included in the new region, said a handout issued here.

Five regions of the prisons department were functional in Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Sahiwal and Multan. An amount of Rs600 million would be spent on repair and maintenance of various jails while new jails were being constructed in Rawalpindi, Khushab, Chakwal, Chiniot and Nankana Sahib with Rs500 million.

The district jail had been constructed in Lodhran while high-security prisons project had been completed in Mianwali at a cost of Rs900 million. Water-filtration plants had also been installed in 34 jails besides the construction of watch-towers for monitoring of jails.

Taunsa: Punjab Safe City (PSC) project will be launched in Rawalpindi, Dera Ghazi Khan and Taunsa under annual development programme instead of public-private partnership mode.

It was decided in a meeting of Punjab Safe City Authority (PSCA) presided over by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar at his office. The meeting decided to link Lahore Ring Road with safe cities project for the installation of CCTV cameras. Release of funds for dealing with operational matters of Lahore Safe City project was also approved.

The chief minister directed for devising a business model for revenue generation along with the direction for early completion of CCTV cameras’ installation in Chunian Tehsil. He said all the matters should be dealt in accordance with law and different options should be reviewed for starting safe cities project in other districts, he added. The scope of the project was being extended to other districts as it was playing an important role in improving law and order and eradication of crime, the chief minister said.

The PSCA officials briefed the meeting that PC-I was approved and the pre-qualification process had been started for launching the project in DG Khan and Taunsa. Meanwhile, the scope of Lahore Safe City project had been expanded to Shahdara Chowk and latest cameras had been installed at Thokar Niaz Baig while cameras’ installation was in process at other entry and exit points of the provincial metropolis.