RAWALPINDI: Instead of improving the parks that were destroyed while developing the metro bus, the Punjab government has asked for work on Shahbaz Sharif Park on Rawal Road to be sped up.

Land for the park, which is near the Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) runway, was bought from the Civil Aviation Authority and the Punjab government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that no buildings would be constructed on the land and that it would only be developed as a green area.

The provincial government has released Rs40 million to the building department for the construction of boundary walls and gates for the park, which will be spread over 90 kanals, and work is expected to be completed within a month.

A senior official of the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) told Dawn the funds were released at the request of former MNA Hanif Abbasi, who also proposed that the park be named after the Punjab chief minister.

The official added that designs for the park have yet to be completed and the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) is working on them. He added that the provincial government wanted to speed up work on the project, which is why the building department has begun constructing the boundary walls and gates.

PHA director general Dr Malik Abid said the authority will start work on the park after the building department is done with theirs.

“We are working on the designs and work on it will be completed by the end of this fiscal year,” he said. He explained that the provincial government will be releasing Rs10 million for lawns, a gym, a hockey ground, jogging tracks and other facilities. In reply to a question, he said other parks in the city will also be improved after funds are approved.

However, a CDGR official said that the provincial government had cut down on funds for park maintenance and that PHA had asked for Rs150 million to improve existing parks but was only given Rs50 million for the purpose.

The reason for this, the official added, was said to have been ‘financial constraints’ when almost the same amount was released for the boundary walls of just one park named after the chief minister.

While the metro bus was being developed, three parks were destroyed, the Liaquat Bagh Women’s Park, the Children’s Park at Committee Chowk and the Nawaz Sharif Park in Shamsabad.

PHA managed to improve the condition of the Children’s Park, but work on the other two has not begun. There are more than 36 parks in Rawalpindi, including the historical Liaquat Bagh which was named after the first prime minister of the country, who was assassinated there on October 16, 1951. Part of the park was used up by the Metro Bus Project and now also houses offices for Rescue 15.

PTI MPA Arif Abbasi said Liaquat Bagh is the mark of the city and yet its condition is deplorable. He said the ruling party was wasting money and that PTI will raise the issue in the national and provincial assemblies.

The PTI leader was sceptical of the intentions behind the construction of the new park. “Punjab government and the chief minister are spending money on the project for the commissions and for personal projection,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2016