Senior Adviser to Federal Ombudsman Secretariat Regional Office Karachi, Syed Anwar Hyder, directed the concerned authorities to take measures for the renovation of the Jinnah International Airport and enhance human resources for ensuring better and swift facilities for passengers.
While presiding over a meeting during a visit to Jinnah International Airport Karachi he said that JIAP was an important international airport of the country catering to thousands of national and international passengers on a daily basis therefore it was essential to renovate the present structure to maximize facilities.
People from all provinces including Sindh and Balochistan and areas of south Punjab heavily depended on JIAP and a load of passengers as well as people coming along with them to bid farewell to or welcome them have increased manifold in comparison to the designed structure while structure and facilities were also wearing with the passage of time, he observed and stressed on immediate steps for repair and renovation at JIAP.
The senior adviser said that space outside the main building was not sufficient for the people who had to stay there for any reason and proper arrangements were required in this regard as well.
He pointed out that despite a sufficient number of counters at the airport long queues of passengers were observed at emigration and overseas Pakistanis counters due to a shortage of staff and cumbersome process of some legal formalities.
Therefore, more staff must be deputed to keep all the counters functional particularly in peak hours while emigration and overseas department should set up an office at or near airport premises so that the requirements of passengers traveling on education plus work visas could be met, he suggested adding that a number of passengers particularly the students departing abroad face enormous difficulty and delay in departure due to the procedural requirements.
Expatriates – both workers and students – are very important as they contribute significantly to the economic strength and development of the country and they must be facilitated in every possible manner, he maintained.
The Federal Ombudsman Secretariat would forward its recommendations in this regard to all the concerned agencies for remedial measures, he said, and urged local officials of all agencies to write down to higher authorities their day-to-day experiences and recommendations for improvement of services as any complaint by a passenger was not only associated with a particular agency or department but it shapes up an image of the country.
