Agreement signed to run Metro Train in Lahore

[Salman]

LAHORE: 

An Orange Line Metro Train over a 27-kilometre-long track would be introduced in Lahore, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Sunday.

He was talking to a representative delegation of China Railways and Norinco International China. The meeting discussed the project and signed an agreement in this regard.

The chief minister said the project reflected strong Pakistan-China ties. He said the agreement was the result of hard work of political and administrative teams of the Punjab and the Chinese institutions concerned. “The train will provide speedy, comfortable and affordable transport facilities,” he said. He said the train would be the first of its kind in Pakistan.

Sharif said more than 200,000 people would travel daily by the train that would have 26 stations on its route. “The Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project will prove a milestone in the public transport,” he said.

The chief minister said MPA Rana Sanaullah, the chief secretary, Lahore Transport Company chairman Khwaja Ahmed Hassaan should be praised for pursuing the project. “The Pak-China friendship is higher than Himalayas, sweeter than honey, deeper than oceans and stronger than steel. The relationship is touching new heights,” he said.

He said new avenues of cooperation had been opened between the two countries. Economic ties between them had entered a new era. He said various Chinese companies had already been working in Pakistan.

Chinese Consul General in Lahore Yu Boren, Provincial Ministers Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, Col ® Shuja Khanzada, Begum Zakia Shahnawaz, Adviser to Chief Minister Ijazun Nabi, the Punjab Metro Bus Authority managing director and the Planning and Development Board chairman attended the meeting.

Medical board

On Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique’s directive, a medical board has been constituted for the treatment of Nauman Masih at Mayo Hospital. The 13-year-old had been set on fire two days ago by assailants in Gulshan-i-Ravi.

Rafique visited the Hospital to inquire after the health of Nauman. Medical Superintendent Amjad Shahzad informed the adviser that the boy had received 50 per cent burns.

A medical board, headed by Professor of Surgery Asghar Naqi, is taking care of the injured. Plastic Surgeon Hamid Ansari and Assistant Professor (Medicine) Imran Mahfooz are among other members of the board.

Rafique directed the hospital administration to provide best possible healthcare facilities to the patient. He said he would monitor the situation.

Women protection

Sharif said development targets could not be achieved without bringing women into national mainstream

He was talking to a delegation of women assembly members from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. “Pakistani women are very talented. They are playing a crucial role for the promotion of education, health, information technology, banking and engineering.”

He said the government had taken appropriate steps to protect women and empower them. He said special centres would be set up to provide speedy justice to the women subjected to violence.

The first such centre was being established in Multan, he said. He said women staff would be deputed at these centres where police, prosecution, medical and forensic services would be available under one roof.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2015.