Dubai, (Online): The Pakistan Consulate General in Dubai will soon start construction of a new building on its premises to cope with the huge rush of people visiting the mission every day.
“The plan for the three-storey building (G+2) has been finalised and the summary has already been sent to the Pakistan government for approval of the project and allocation of funds,” Samar Javed, Acting Pakistani Consul General in Dubai, told Gulf News. The building will include parking spaces, two big halls, waiting areas for men and women, and offices.
The move comes after complaints from the community members who had to queue for hours in the consulate for consular services, mainly renewal of passports.
Javed said that the approval to construct the building has already been taken from the authorities concerned in Dubai. “We hope to start construction of the new building by next year. Part of the existing building will also be demolished,” he said.
“There is an immediate need to expand the facilities at the consulate because the existing consulate building was built in 1982 when the population of Pakistanis in the UAE was around 120,000 but now it has increased to around 1.4 million.”
This is the second time in recent years that the plan to construct the new building has been sent to the Pakistan government. Last time, the proposal for the new building with complete plan was sent to the government in 2009 but the funds were not approved.
