The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has completed all the groundwork to initiate the long-delayed, multibillion-rupee Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Transport Programme (1,000 environment-friendly CNG buses), but the Pakistan People’s Party-led federal government seems reluctant to provide the promised funds in the midst of the ongoing financial crunch as well as the recent energy crisis, particularly the CNG (compressed natural gas) crisis.
Sources said the Centre had announced this important project in 2006-07 at a cost of Rs 2.5 billion that has now increased manifold, but it was delayed due to a lack of interest on the part of the Sindh government.
They said Some 500 CNG buses were to be introduced in Karachi by February 2008, and at least 1,000 buses were to be introduced in the entire province.
Six hundred buses were to ply on different intercity routes of the metropolitan, 100 on the Karachi-Sukkur route, 100 on Karachi-Hyderabad, and 50 each on the Karachi-Larkana, Khairpur-Benazirabad and Mirpurkhas routes, they added.
Sources said following the pathetic attitude of Sindh’s authorities and the political hustle-bustle, the financier of the project, the Asian Development Bank, pulled out of the project.
Besides, the Centre also refused to provide the promised subsidy of Rs 700,000 per vehicle, citing “financial crunch” as the reason.
They said the Sindh Transport Department had forwarded two requests to the Centre to provide funding for the project.
However, the federal authorities showed reluctance, citing “financial crisis” as the reason because the project would cost Rs 5 billion, they added.
Sources said had the transport programme materialised timely, thousands of skilled and unskilled youths would have been provided employment.
They said KMC Administrator Muhammad Hussain Syed recently wrote to the Environment Ministry director general, apprising him that the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto CNG Bus Project was ready to kick off.
The letter stated: “As you are aware that the World Bank had appointed Winrock International as a consultant in 2010 to train personnel and develop Project Idea Note (PIN) and Project Design Documents (PDDs) for streamlining the carbon trade funding under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for emission-reduction programme of the UNO. Accordingly, the consultants, in association with the KMTC, CDGK, had developed a PIN and the same was submitted to the CDM Cell in December 2010. Subsequently, the Cell was pleased to issue the Letter of Intent in January 2011 and advised to submit PDDs, so that the subject project activity for starting the process of getting approval from the host country in accordance with national development aims and objectives may be initiated. You are, therefore, requested to please use your good offices to pursue the consultants to develop PDDs at the earliest, so that further processing for credit financing under the standing Emission Control Programme be initiated in time as the CNG bus project is ready to kick off.”
Sources said the federal government has informed the Sindh government that the project could not be started because of funds’ shortage and the worst energy crisis in the country, particularly in providing smooth CNG to 1,000 buses.
The government is instead mulling over removing CNG cylinders installed in the buses and vans so as to avoid further gas crisis in the future, they added.
It is pertinent to mention here that President Asif Ali Zardari, during his visit to Karachi, had approved three mega projects, including the CNG bus project for Karachi, which would be launched and overseen by the city government.
