Lahore: Punjab Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht has approved Safe City projects for Rawalpindi and Murree, a news source quoted a Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) spokesperson.
The process to issue tenders for the Rawalpindi and Murree Safe City projects will start soon, while their completion timeframe, as revealed by PSCA officials, is approximately 18 months.
Minister Bakht granted this approval, as he chaired the 41st meeting of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Steering Committee. Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister on Finance Dr Salman Shah, Planning and Development Board Chairman Habibur Rehman, Punjab Small Industries Corporation Managing Director Tahir Khursheed, Punjab Safe Cities Authority Managing Director Malik Amir Ali and several notable officials and members of the Punjab Assembly also attended this meeting.
The meeting members reviewed several ongoing projects launched under the PPP mode, including the construction of Leh Expressway, Punjab-Muzaffargarh Road, Sumandari-Jhang Road, Vehari Road and Faisalabad-Chiniot-Sargodha Road and the dualisation of the Depalpur-Okara Road.
The selection of schemes via PPP mode is being made under the five-year development plan to ensure that the set targets are achieved, said Bakht. He also directed the Planning and Development Department, to consider the traffic problems and environmental pollution factors that might surface during construction while preparing the feasibility reports for these projects.
