Mohsin Naqvi says Islamabad to have another F-9-sized park

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced on Monday that Islamabad will get another park roughly the size of Fatima Jinnah Park, commonly known as F-9 Park, as part of efforts to make the capital greener and improve facilities for residents and visitors.

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kashmir Chowk underpass, also attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Naqvi said that the government had already launched several initiatives to expand Islamabad’s green spaces.

He said that F-9 Park was being developed on the model of London’s Hyde Park, while work had also begun on a 450-acre safari park, which he described as the largest of its kind in Asia.

“An F-9-sized park is also being developed,” Naqvi said, adding that the government wanted to leave Islamabad “three times greener” than it was when the current government took charge.

The interior minister said that the government was also focused on improving recreational facilities and making Islamabad more attractive for visitors.

Naqvi said that the city’s infrastructure development had remained stalled for around 20 to 25 years even as its population had tripled, making it essential to upgrade roads and other facilities.

He expressed hope that the infrastructure projects being undertaken by the government would cater to the city’s needs for the next two decades.

Kashmir Chowk underpass

Naqvi said that the Kashmir Chowk underpass was part of the government’s broader plan to improve Islamabad’s infrastructure and facilitate visitors to the capital.

The project, costing Rs1.4548 billion, is expected to ease traffic congestion at Kashmir Chowk.

Naqvi said that the underpass, together with the six-lane service road being constructed along Islamabad Expressway, would reduce travel time between Islamabad and Rawalpindi to around 16 to 18 minutes from approximately half an hour.

Giving a briefing on the project, he said that the underpass will help separate traffic flows at the busy junction and resolve the longstanding congestion problem.

The contract for the project had awarded to Habib Construction Services, while officials have been directed to complete the work on a fast-track basis, he said.

Naqvi said that improving Islamabad’s infrastructure was particularly important because the capital regularly receives domestic and foreign visitors.

“Islamabad’s beauty and providing facilities to all the guests who come here are important for us,” he said.

Land records to be digitised

Naqvi said that the government was also working to digitise all land records in Islamabad, describing the initiative as one of Prime Minister Sharif’s priorities.

He said that the government expected to complete the digitisation process by December 31, in line with the deadline set by the prime minister.

The digitisation initiative is aimed at allowing citizens to access information about their applications and land-related records online and improving transparency in the Capital Development Authority’s operations, he said.

Earlier, Naqvi had directed the CDA to complete the digitisation of its records within 120 days and enable citizens to check the status of their applications online.

Plastic-free, cashless Islamabad

The interior minister said that State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry was personally supervising two other projects aimed at making Islamabad plastic-free and cashless by December 31.

He said that the necessary laws for making Islamabad plastic-free were already in place, with implementation now the main challenge.

Naqvi said that meetings were also being held regularly on the cashless Islamabad initiative, adding that the federal government wanted to take the lead on both projects so similar measures could subsequently be introduced elsewhere.

Infrastructure push

The interior minister said that the government was undertaking a broader infrastructure push to address Islamabad’s growing needs.

The Interior Ministry has previously directed the CDA to accelerate major development projects, including the Kashmir Chowk and Faisal Mosque underpasses and the Islamabad Expressway service road.

He said that the government wanted to ensure that the projects being undertaken now would provide Islamabad with the infrastructure it needed for years to come.

Naqvi also urged the public to judge elected representatives by their performance, saying people should assess whether those they elected were spending their time working for them or engaging in “negative politics”.

“We are all answerable to the public,” he said.

He called on citizens to consider where their elected representatives were spending their time and whether they were fulfilling their responsibilities to the people.