LAHORE: Chief Secretary Punjab Zahid Akhtar Zaman, on Thursday, reviewed the pace of work on the 33 priority development projects that included schemes of up-gradation of hospitals, repair and construction of roads.

During a meeting held at the Civil Secretariat, the Chairman Planning and Development briefed the Chief Secretary about the progress on schemes of various departments, 10 schemes of specialized healthcare department, six each of housing and urban development, and communication and works, four of Auqaf, three of PITB, and two schemes each of forest and education departments.

The Chief Secretary made a detailed review of the progress on up-gradation of Services, Mayo, Ganga Ram, and Nishtar-II Multan hospitals, and Safe Cities Project in Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Gujranwala. He directed the Chairman Planning & Development to develop a model regarding urban development and issue SOPs to standardize the construction work.

He said that adequate space must be allocated for green belts at the time of construction of roads.

The Chief Secretary said that timely completion of public welfare projects is the priority of the government. He directed that quality as well as transparency be ensured in the development schemes.

He mentioned that work should be completed as per timelines, adding that the department concerned would be responsible in case of any delay. He said that axle load management is being implemented on 10 roads in Punjab.

He said that due to non-implementation of axle load rules, the roads constructed at the cost of millions of rupees are damaged. The administrative secretaries of Finance, P&D and relevant departments attended the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023