ISLAMABAD: Although it has been five months since Japan renovated the Japanese Park in the foothills of the Margalla Hills at a cost of 80 million Yen, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) is yet to do its part in helping visitors in figuring out how to use the new rides.

The Japanese Park was established in 1985 by the Japanese government as a token of friendship and was meant to be a gift from the children of Japan to the children of Pakistan.

The park remained popular with children for over two decades before it started deteriorating due to negligence of the CDA. The park started losing visitors and two large slides and other rides were also removed and not replaced.

Last December, Japan stepped in to help the civic authority and replaced many old rides with new ones. However, children cannot use the rides without pictures to guide them.

Sharif Hussein, who was visiting the park with his family, said the new instalments will not help attract visitors if the CDA was not doing its job.

“We Pakistanis are grateful to the Japanese for renovating the park and they have done a good job with it. But where is CDA and why have they not installed boards in the national language to guide visitors like me,” he asked.

Mr Hussein said that the last time he had visited a decade ago, all the rides would have a board installed next to it, telling parents how their children were to use the ride, but now “visitors don’t know what to do with the structures”.

Another visitor to the park, Amir Ali, said that Japan has now twice helped out CDA with the park and that it is the civic authority’s responsibility to keep up the standard of the playground of which many residents of the twin cities have fond memories.

Kamran Khan, another visitor, said: “My family used to spend the weekend at this park and it used to be so green then”.

When asked about the missing signboards, Director Parks Mohammad Irshad said: “The budget for the signboards has been approved and they will be installed in a few months. I understand that the absence of the boards is creating problems, but people are happy to see new swings and rides.”

Mr Irshad said that horticultural activities will also be started in the park and that the washrooms are going to be renovated as well.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2016