RAWALPINDI: The Shahbaz Sharif Park was inaugurated by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday.

Situated on Rawal Road, the park spreads over 110 kanals, which was used to dump garbage before, officials of the Parks and Horticulture Authority told the minister.

They said the park was completed at the cost of Rs134 million and includes a spacious cricket ground with a pavilion, a football ground made of artificial grass, a basketball ground and a gymnasium.

The park has a spacious parking space, a jogging track, a food court and a modern security system.

Walk through gates will soon be installed at all entry points, the officials said.

The minister was told that tall trees were not planted in the park as it is located near the runway of the Benazir Bhutto Airport.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Aurangzeb said that the PML-N will continue to serve people and to improve the standard of living. She said the party will promote a soft image of the country.

“Whether it is the development of nuclear power or roads, all development works have been done during PML-N governments, in the past and present. The government improved the condition of educational institutions and health facilities,” she said.

She claimed that the PML-N had ended the energy crisis and had ended loadshedding in the country.

The information minister challenged Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan to show any park, playground or hospital built by the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“In Punjab, people feel a difference because the PML-N government turns heaps of garbage into parks and provide modern travelling facilities like the metro bus and orange line trains,” she said.

The minister said that Imran Khan had revived the politics of abuses which was in vogue in 1992 and that political opponents did not have bringing prosperity to the country on their agenda while PML-N was working on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and other mega projects.

She said false accusations are being made against the party leadership and that they are facing fake charges in various courts.

Imran Khan was acquitted of various charges such as the attack on the parliament building and on PTV, she said.

“On the other hand, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter were not even exempted from appearing in court so they could visit Kalsoom Nawaz in hospital in London,” she said, adding that the next general election will be a referendum for the respect of the vote.

Many local PML-N leaders were present on the occasion. Former MNA Hanif Abbasi also spoke at the inauguration and said the PML-N government has given the gifts of parks, schools and hospitals to the people.

He said the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology and the metro bus project were launched to facilitate the people.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2018