PESHAWAR
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Local Government, Elections and Rural Development Faisal Amin Gandapur has urged the officials of his department to take the local body (LB) elections as a challenge.
He said LB elections must be held in a fair, successful and peaceful manner amid pleasant environment and wholehearted cooperation with ECP.
“I’m deeply grateful to Chief Minister Mehmood Khan who entrusted me with such important responsibilities of local bodies and I would do my utmost to bring justice to this department of public interest” he said adding “ steps would be taken to ensure that department should reach new heights of double and quadruple development”.
He was addressing an emergent briefing on local body elections in Peshawar after taking over the portfolio.
On the occasion, Special Secretary Local Government Hafiz Muhtasim Billa Shah apprised the Minister about arrangements for upcoming local body elections. The minister was als briefed on matters relating to Urban and Town Master Planning, Community Development, Revenue Generation, City Beautification and Plantation, Peshawar Development Authority and TMAs across the province including merged districts.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Local Government Shakeel Ahmed, Secretary Delimitation and Elections Sajid Gul, Secretary Local Council Board Salim Khan, Director General Local Government Khuda Bakhsh and heads of other relevant institutions and projects.
Faisal Amin Gandapur expressed satisfaction over the performance of the department and clarified that he has personally observed performance of the department of local government in the campaigns for the prevention of Dengue and COVID 19. These efforts, he said were widely acknowledged.
The provincial Minister said that he believed in practical work more than verbal deposits and would encourage target achievers and good performing municipal officials in every possible way. Apart from the local body elections, we were also facing the challenge of modernization of urban and rural development and planning, health and sanitation and municipal services issues.
He said that he did not believe in cleanliness and tree plantation weeks for any purpose but considered it a real task to be continued throughout the year.
He said that development is a gradual process which is not possible in the blink of an eye but our sincere efforts for this purpose are the basic condition.
“I have traveled around the world, including France, and concluded that sincerity and constant struggle always worked wherein Western nations have reached the pinnacle of development by dint of it, and if we as a nation follow this path, no world power can stop us to reach the sky of development”, he added.
The Minister for Local Government assured the municipal authorities that lack of resources for procurement of modern machinery and other facilities for TMAs and other municipal bodies would not be allowed to come in the way as this department is directly related to the social life of the people. Improving the life standard of people is one of the top priorities of our government, he maintained.
Expressing satisfaction over the targets given to TMAs for maximum tree plantation in the province including the merged districts, he directed the municipal authorities to plant trees according to the climate of each city and town. In this regard the LG department must also fully cooperate with the Environment Department, he concluded.
