FAISALABAD: The government spent millions of rupees on the construction of Haji camp near Marzipura on Narawala Road however the building is yet to be functional after around three years of completion.

The Hajj Committee is unaware of any such camp in the city as former district coordination officer (DCO) Nasim Sadiq did not inform them about the project.

At a meeting held at the commissioner office on Aug 27, 2012, then acting commissioner Nasim Sadiq said the Haji Camp on Narawala Road would be completed in January 2013. The vacant land from the 23 kanals belonging to the camp was being used by locals to park rickshaws, cars, donkey-carts and animals. A car service centre had also been set up on the rear side of the camp.

There were no security arrangements for the building due to which scores of its glasses had been stolen. Its main gates had been locked with iron chains and stairs leading to the basement covered with bushes. Garbage could be seen accumulated on the front and rear side of the camp, while the footpath in the front was taken over by a chicken vendor, motorcycle rickshaws and donkey and horse carts.

Windowpanes broken, unconstructed area encroached upon by locals

Mukhtar Ahmed, a 70-year-old local, said owing to negligence of the district government people had started to encroach upon the vacant land of the camp, and two houses and a car service station had been set up there. Government officials were well aware of the encroachments but were not taking any action, he added.

He said the land belonged to the Auqaf department and before construction of the camp, people were using the land to cultivate crops and fodder. Those at the helm of affairs usually spent public money carelessly and the Haji camp was one of the many examples of that. He urged Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to take stock of the situation to save this precious building.

Hajj Committee member Mehmood Alam Jutt, who is also Anjuman-i-Tajiran city secretary, said the project was discussed once in a meeting when Nasim Sadiq was the DCO and acting commissioner. However, Sadiq did not bother to inform the committee about the project.

He said an independent Haji camp was the need of the hour and if it had already been constructed then the district government must hand it over to the committee. Right now the camp had been established at the Government Cooperative Training College on Sargodha Road that was actually for training of government officials, he added.

Jutt said the current camp was not enough to cater to the needs of thousands of pilgrims, and only the bureaucracy could resolve the issue.

Shahid Ali, who runs a cycle stand at a nearby hospital, said the building was locked since its completion and had become a haven for drug addicts. He said a lot of its windowpanes and iron rods had been stolen or broken. He said instead of leaving the building locked, the government should utilise it.

An additional commissioner on behalf of Commissioner Momin Ali Agha said the central Auqaf department would be asked to furnish a report with reasons why the Haji Camp had not been made functional.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2016