Cycling team suffers as countrys only velodrome in tatters

pakistan cycling federation, pakistan cycling, cycling, velodrome, lahore velodrome, pakistan sports board

File photo of Pakistan's Second National Junior Cycling Championship at the Lahore Velodrome. Despite securing a huge grant for its reconstruction from the government in 2005, the Pakistan Cycling Federation is yet to receive a final clearance on the project from the Pakistan Sports Board. -Photo by APP

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Sports on Saturday expressed grave concern over the non-completion of the countrys only velodrome in Lahore and directed Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to provide all details of the project so that bottlenecks in its completion could be removed.

The committee which met under the chairmanship of Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi at the Parliament House and was attended by various member including officials of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and Pakistan Cycling Federation (PCF).

The Secretary PCF Idris Haider Khawaja told the meeting that in November 2005, an amount of Rs 49 million was sanctioned by the government for the construction of new the Cycling Velodrome at Nishtar Sports Complex but work on the project had not been undertaken yet.

The velodrome is incomplete and in a very bad condition. Work on it has excessively been delayed, but despite all this our achievements in the sport are remarkable, he said.

He said the PSB had informed that execution of the project could not be started due to a dispute raised by the Government of Punjab.

Khawaja, however, denied the claim and said the government of Punjab had no objection and that only a Lease Agreement needed to be signed by the PSB.

Despite our repeated requests no body has been deputed for the purpose, he said.

Khawaja also informed that the PSB had 142 kanals under its possession at the! Complex but out of those 60 kanals were leased out to a foreign firm for car parking.

That firm has a commercial plaza nearby and it has constructed an office at PSBs land. But ironically the board has not been able to initiate work on its own project, he maintained.

The Director General PSB Ameer Hamza Gilani in return denied the claims of the cycling federation and said that the land was still in possession of the board. He agreed that the previous provincial government had leased out the said land to the foreign firm for car parking but now the work on that had been stopped.

The members of the committee were of the view that commercial people had no right to encroach on PSBs land.

Senator Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi directed the PSB to provide all details of the project to committee in its next meeting to be held on January, 24.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mubarak pledge to step down dismissed as too slow

Image
The Egyptian Presidents pledge to surrender in September has angered protesters who want an immediate end to his 30-year-rule. Photo by AP CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Tuesday he would surrender power in September, angering protesters who want an immediate end to his 30-year-rule. The United States called for the transition of power to begin straight away, stopping short of endorsing Mubaraks plan to stay in office for another six months. What is clear and what I indicated tonight to President Mubarak is my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful and it must begin now, President Barack Obama said after speaking to him by phone. In the streets of Cairo, protesters whose numbers swelled above 1 million across Egypt on Tuesday, many renewed their calls for the 82-year-old leader to quit. We will not leave! He will leave! some chanted. A leading reformist figure, retired diplomat Mohammed ElBaradei, was quoted by CNN calling Mubaraks mov...
Keep reading

Hafeez, Afridi and Akmal highlight in crushing win

Image
Umar Akmal (L) and Misbah-ul-Haq celebrate the wicket of Jamie How. -Photo by AFP CHRISTCHURCH: A maiden century by Mohammad Hafeez and a blistering 65 by Shahid Afridi set up Pakistan for a 43-run win over New Zealand in their one-day cricket international Saturday. The batting heroics, which rescued Pakistan from a disastrous start, were complemented by the fielding exploits of Umar Akmal who featured in three crucial New Zealand dismissals. The result levelled the six-match series at 1-1, with one game washed out and three to play. It was a sharp turnaround in fortunes from the first match, which New Zealand won by nine wickets with more than 32 overs to spare. They showed the hallmarks of that domination in Christchurch when they won the toss, put Pakistan into bat on a green-tinged wicket, and had them two for eight by the fourth over. But from there Pakistan worked their way up to take control, compiling 293-7 in their 50 overs, with Afridi starring in a 126-run charge over the ...
Keep reading

Gagged Al Jazeera a powerful counter to Mideast regimes

Image
Egyptian protesters shout slogans against President Hosni Mubarak's regime at Tahrir Square in Cairo on January 30, 2011. -Photo by AFP DUBAI: Al Jazeera television, banned in Egypt on Sunday, has often angered Arab governments with its coverage of dissent and served as a counterweight to regimes which accuse it of stirring dissent. Egypts official MENA news agency said the outgoing information minister, Anas al-Fikki, ordered Al Jazeeras closure in Cairo after its blanket coverage of anti-government protests sweeping the country. The Doha-based Al Jazeera slammed the move as an attempt at censoring and silencing the voices of the Egyptian people. In this time of deep turmoil and unrest in Egyptian society it is imperative that voices from all sides be heard, the Arab satellite news channel said. On Saturday, it broadcast an appeal from Yusef al-Qaradawi, a popular Egyptian-born television preacher and mentor of Egypts officially banned Muslim Brotherhood, urging President Hosni Mu...
Keep reading