ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday paid a surprise visit to the site of under-construction Kashmir Avenue Apartments at Mauve Area in sector G-13 and expressed his displeasure over the absence of labour and management from the site.
The said high rise apartments project is being executed by the Ministry of Housing and Works through the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority under the umbrella of Prime Minister’s flagship Naya Pakistan Housing Program.Â
The PM reached the project site without protocol and his staffers of the Prime Minister house whereas the related authorities and the highups of the ministry of housing and the FGEHA were unaware of the visit.
The site manager was called to the construction site to brief Imran Khan about the working and completion of the project. According to the sources, the surprise visit was carried out after getting information of slow development of the project.
“Though, the Prime Minister expressed his displeasure over the absence of labour and management at the site but he did not order any disciplinary action against themâ€, the sources told.Â
The housing authority is currently implementing a total of four projects under the prime minister’s flagship NPHP that include Kashmir Avenue Apartments at Mauve Area sector G-13, Skyline Apartments near New Islamabad Airport in Islamabad, Chaklala Heights at Scheme-III, Rawalpindi and Lifestyle Residency at Bedian Road in Lahore.
In October 2021, The Nation had reported that two contractors have approached the management of FGEHA to get compensation for high rise building projects against price escalation in some items i.e. steel and cement. However, the authority had declined to accept their claims and asked the contractors that anything beyond the scope of agreement would be difficult for the management to allow.
Resultantly, the contractors slowed down the pace of work on projects till redressal of their grievances.
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As the cases of Omicron declining in Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Friday said that the government ensured protection of economically weaker segment through its policy of smart lockdown instead of going for complete shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Besides the worldwide appreciation of the government’s policies of tackling the Coronavirus, the people also extended full support to the implementation of COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), he added. The prime minister was presiding over a high-level meeting to review measures to check coronavirus in the country.
Minister for Planning Asad Umar, Special Assistants to PM Dr. Faisal Sultan, Dr. Shehbaz Gill, National Coordinator National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) Maj. Gen. Zafar Iqbal, Director General Operations NCOC Maj Gen Asif Goraya and senior officials concerned were in attendance.
The prime minister said that when people from across the world were protesting against lockdown, masses in Pakistan not only followed the SOPs and fully supported the government’s smart lockdown measures but also cooperated in getting them vaccinated.
It was due to the government’s relief and measures that industrial and other economic activities had a minimum impact of COVID-19, he pointed out.
The prime minister appreciated the sacrifices and services of the frontline health workers, adding, Pakistani nation would never forget the sacrifices of doctors and frontline health workers.
The meeting was briefed in detail about the wave of Omicron in the country as well as its spread in the region and world.
It was told that after the wave of Omicron touching peak worldwide in January, it has started decline, but the number of cases in Europe and America were still high. India was at top in terms of deaths due to coronavirus in the region, where around 1000 people were dying on daily basis.
The meeting was told that due to the government’s measures to ensure strict implementation of COVID SOPs, the cases of Omicron in Pakistan were declining.
Besides, it was further told that with 6.8% decline in COVID positive cases after February 10, the admission of Omicron patients in the hospitals’ Intensive Care Units (ICUs) had also registered 71% decrease as compared to the 4th wave.
No increase in hospital admissions and the need for ICUs was also a positive trend, it was told.
The meeting was told that due to the new wave of Coronavirus, 42 people were dying in Pakistan per day on average basis.
About the progress on vaccination, the meeting was told that with 90 million (58%) out of the 150 million population having the age of over 12 years fully vaccinated, the number would rise to 110 million (72%) by March 2022.
Besides, one dose of vaccination has been administered to 115 million (72%) people, and this number will reach 130 million (85%) by March 2022.
The meeting was told that in the first phase of “Every Pakistani Protected†61,329 teams were working across the country at present and were administering 2.2 million doses of vaccine every day. Phase-II of vaccination will start from March 7.
With 59% of students within the age limits of 12 to 17 years fully vaccinated, booster dose has also been administered to over 3.4 million people of above 18 years old. It was further told that the country had complete stock to vaccinate the whole population.
The meeting was told that Punjab was at top in terms of the pace of vaccination followed by Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and other areas. Besides the future strategy regarding vaccination, various proposals were also presented before the meeting to encourage the frontline health workers.
The prime minister while appreciating the performance of NCOC and the Ministry of National Health Services directed to ensure the implementation of SOPs and further quicken the pace of vaccination.
Govt taking unprecedented steps to facilitate Pakistani expatriates: PM
Prime Minister Imran Khan also said that overseas Pakistanis are our precious asset and government is taking unprecedented steps to facilitate them.
Chairing a meeting of Roshan Digital Accounts in Islamabad on Friday, he said government’s measures like granting voting rights to overseas Pakistanis and online issuance of certificates of power of attorney and inheritance will have far reaching impact for their welfare and facilitation.
The Prime Minister was apprised that remittances worth over three billion dollars have so far been received through Roshan Digital Accounts.Â
Imran Khan directed the State Bank of Pakistan to provide online facilitation on real time basis to overseas Pakistanis for sending their money to Pakistan.
He also instructed the concerned authorities to launch an effective marketing campaign to convince overseas Pakistanis to use Roshan Digital Accounts.
