Election Commission member inaugurates Rs270m district complex in Hub

HUB: Election Commission of Pakistan member for Balochistan Shah Muhammad Jatoi and Election Commissioner Balochistan Ali Asghar Sial paid a one-day visit to Hub district. On their arrival, Lasbela Division Commissioner Saira Atta, DIG Lasbela Abdul Qayyum Patafi, Deputy Commissioner Jamdad Mandokhail and District Election Commissioner Abdul Muqtadir Abro received them. Representatives of the legal community and civil society of Hub also attended.

Shah Muhammad Jatoi, Election Commission member for Balochistan, cut the ribbon to inaugurate the District Election Complex at a ceremony.

Completed in 18 months

In a briefing on the project, Executive Engineer Malik Masood Raisani of the Communication and Works Department’s Hub Building Section and District Election Commissioner Abdul Muqtadir Abro said work began in December 2023. After the federal government abolished the Pak PWD in 2024, the project was handed over to the Balochistan Communication and Works Department in November 2024.

The briefing said the Election Commission building had been constructed on a priority basis, on the lines of a model project, on the orders of Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti and through the efforts of Shah Muhammad Jatoi. When the Communication and Works Department took over the project, its physical progress on the ground stood at 40 per cent. The department’s engineers completed it in 18 months despite a limited budget.

According to officials, the District Election Commission complex has been built under the supervision of the Communication and Works Department at a cost of Rs270 million. So far, a total of Rs243.515 million has been spent on the project, against an estimated cost of Rs267.995 million. Work remains to be done with funds of Rs24 million for the provision of electricity, water and other facilities.

Lasbela Division Commissioner Saira Atta said the present government believed in good governance and the Election Commission building reflected the transparent and proper use of funds and good governance. She said funds approved for development projects should be spent with the same transparency, and that the provision of such facilities in public institutions was an example for other departments to follow. She said the building reflected a state-of-the-art standard and credited the project’s success to the coordination of all stakeholders in society, the district administration, the police and the engineers of the Communication and Works Department.

Priority for women in 40 per cent of jobs

Election Commission member Shah Muhammad Jatoi said the Communication and Works Department team, under the supervision of engineer Abdul Wahab Zehri, had worked diligently, which was commendable. He said four buildings had been constructed in Hub, Gwadar, Jafarabad and Mastung, and that the Election Commission complex in Hub was the most beautiful and a model building in Balochistan. He said that in Election Commission recruitment, 40 per cent of jobs had been given to women on merit. He expressed the hope that the complex would make it easier to provide facilities and services to citizens. Thanking civil society and lawyers, he said he was a former president of the High Court Bar and had been part of the legal community.

Addressing the ceremony, Election Commissioner Balochistan Ali Asghar Sial said that after the appointment of Shah Muhammad Jatoi, a member from Balochistan, building projects had been approved through his efforts in four districts of Balochistan: Gwadar, Hub, Mastung and Jafarabad. He said offices had also been built in 16 districts. He said Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan Sikandar Sultan Raja had played a key role in Balochistan’s development projects. He thanked local elders, lawyers and administrative officers for attending the ceremony.

Photo: courtesy DGPR Balochistan