Peshawar: People to oppose Ladies Club commercialisation plan

[Naveed Yaseen]

by Qaiser Khan Afridi
PESHAWAR: Condemning the attitude of Town Municipal Officer (TMO) Town-III, the office-bearers of the University Town Residents Welfare Society (UTRWS) Thursday pledged to resist any plan of the provincial government to commercialise the University Town Club, also known as Ladies Club.

They condemned attitude of the Town Municipal Officer (TMO), Town-III, who they said denied them their right to association by not allowing them to hold their annual general body meeting at the Club. The meeting was scheduled for Thursday at the Town Club to discuss the deteriorating environmental condition of the locality and bring the same to the notice of the local government department.

The UTRWS office-bearers said the local government officials were also invited to the meeting so that they could resolve the problems being faced by the residents of the Town. However, employees of the Town-III did not allow both male and female members of the UTRWS to hold the meeting that compelled them to stage a protest demonstration and block the road in front of the club for almost 30 minutes.

Talking to The News, UTRWS Chairman Colonel ® Hamid Afridi said that indecent behaviour of the TMO was beyond all norms of social behaviour, moral obligations and sense of responsibility as public servant. “Barring our entry into the Club by the Town-III administration was unjustified as the Club and its surrounding greenbelt is property of the community,” Afridi said.

He added that the provincial government wanted to commercialise the only recreational spot, where women, children and elderly people hold their social gatherings. However, he warned that they would not let the government deprive them of the only facility.

He said the University Town was founded by an engineer in 1954 when Sardar Abdur Rasheed Khan was chief minister of the Frontier province. “The idea behind it construction was to provide abodes to the retiring government servants, civilian and defence services. Plots for parks, markets, town offices, graveyard and club were also part of the project,” he said.

However, he said 78 kanals of land was earmarked for the club but with the passage of time the greenbelt was squeezed to 18 kanals. “Now some elements for the sake of their vested interests want to destroy the remaining greenbelt by constructing a swimming pool and wedding hall, which is unjust,” he added.

About the overall situation of the University Town, he said the residents of the area were paying huge taxes to the government, but in return nobody bothered to pay heed to the development of the Town.

“The TMA is bound to utilize 85 per cent of the total tax — received from the residents — on the University Town, but there are no proper facilities and roads in the once-posh locality of the city are dilapidated,” he said.

Hamid Afridi informed that the residents pay excise tax from 20,000 to 30,000 per year to the government, but they get no allocations for maintenance and development in their Town. He said the University Town is in extremely shabby condition which is deteriorating day-by-day because of the attitude of the Town Municipal Administration. “The mushroom growth of commercial establishments, private schools, and hospitals and illegal parking of vehicles along the narrow roads have made life miserable for the residents.

Commander ® Liaquat, secretary of the UTRWS, urged the provincial government to pay attention to the construction of roads and greenery in University Town and resolve the problems being faced by the residents.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=174091