Peshawar   -  Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Ali Amin Gandapur has directed the concerned quarters to immediately complete the food testing lab being established in Peshawar for testing and registration of food products in the province, adding that all the resources required for this purpose would be provided on priority.

He also directed them to ensure procurement of all the equipment required by the food authority as early as possible. He was chairing a meeting of the Food Safety and Halal Food Authority, held at Chief Minister’s House Peshawar on Wednesday. Provincial Minister for Food Zahir Shah Toru, Additional Chief Secretaries Imtiaz Hussain Shah and Abid Majeed, Secretary Health Adeel Shah, and other relevant officials attended the meeting.

Briefing about the baseline survey and drive recently conducted by the authority for milk quality testing in the province, it was informed that a total of 583 milk samples were tested in different districts of the province, out of which 541 samples were found substandard and adulterated. The authorities informed that 78% of samples from local tank suppliers and 99% of samples from inter-provincial tank suppliers were declared adulterated, adding that cumulatively, 93% of milk samples have been declared unhygienic and substandard.

The Chief Minister expressed great concern over the adulteration of harmful chemicals in milk and directed the authority to take stern action against the adulteration mafia across the province.

Earlier, the Chief Minister also chaired a meeting of the transport department wherein matters regarding introducing modern public transport facilities in Divisional Headquarters were discussed. The Chief Minister directed the transport department authorities to complete the homework for introducing modern public transport in the divisional headquarters and to submit solid proposals for approval within a week.

Ali Amin Gandapur said that providing quality transport facilities to the public is a part of the government’s priority areas, adding that the provincial government would utilize all the resources required for this purpose. In the meeting, the Chief Minister also directed concerned quarters to complete commercial plazas of BRT on a fast track and prepare a business plan for the said plazas. He directed the PDA to speed up work on the Peshawar Ring Road upgrade project and said that steps should be taken to provide modern facilities on the Ring Road. Ali Amin Gandapur also directed the authorities to plan to make BRT financially self-sufficient. Adviser to Chief Minister on Finance Muzamil Aslam, Secretary Transport Masood Younis, CEO Trans Peshawar, and representatives of a private transport company also attended the meeting.