Open Air Gyms… The Mistake Is Accepted, But Who Will Answer for the Loss?
Musarrat Ullah Jan – KikxNow – Digital Creator The decision to cease installing open air gyms within the parks of Peshawar brings into the fore an issue long relegated to obscurity. The question, however, is not whether these gyms were useful or flawed. The question is who will answer for the public money that vanished with them. Under the previous government, the Sports 1000 Facilities initiative introduced open air gyms across the province. From Abbottabad to Nathia Gali and several other places, each one cost close to 2.1 million rupees. Most of them fell apart within months. The equipment rusted, the parts broke, and the sites fell into disuse. There was no plan for maintenance. No performance audit was conducted. Nobody bothered with an inquiry. The whole project vanished from the radar, as if public money had never been spent. Today, the present administration refers to these gyms as "unsuitable." That is an admission in itself that the earlier decision was flaw...