- Jhakrani says transporters not ready to decrease bus fares as they claim of using CNG in 95 per cent of their minibuses
While addressing bus fares in the city and discussing transporters who are reluctant to decrease bus fares despite huge decrease in oil prices, Sindh Minister for Transport Mumtaz Hussain Jakhrani said on Monday that if he ‘picked up his rod’ the transporters would call strike.
During the session of the Sindh Assembly on Monday, MQM lawmaker Kamran Akhtar posed a short notice question on why the transport mafia has not decreased minibus fares despite there being a 35 per cent decrease in prices of oil, and why the government is not taking any action against the problem. While addressing the issue, Jakhrani said that the notification for the fare decrease had already been issued. However, he said the transporters were not ready to decrease the bus fare because they claimed that they are using CNG in 95 per cent of their minibuses.
On this, Speaker Aga Siraj Durani observed that the use of CNG in public transport vehicles is illegal because the government has given then route permits based on their diesel use. He said there should be a ban on the use of CNG in public transport vehicles because substandard gas cylinders are leading to the deaths of innocent people because these cylinders explode and buses catch fire. He said nowhere in the world were public transport buses allowed to run on gas. He said the minister should take action against negligent transporters. However, Mumtaz Jakhrani said if he ‘picked up his rod’, the transporters would call strike.
However, MQM’s Muhammad Hussain Khan issued another short notice on why a vital rail-based public transport project, Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), has been in limbo for so long and why the JICA has abandoned the project. He also questioned whether the Sindh government is taking any steps to resume work on the KCR irrespective of the JICA assistant. On the issue, Jakhrani admitted that the KCR is the backbone of Karachi’s economy. He said that out of a 43-kilometer track for the KCR, only eight kilometres are under encroachments and some encroachers have moved the court and made JICA a party in the case. This is the reason that JICA has abandoned the KCR project. He said, however, that the Sindh government is in contact with some Chinese companies to resume work on the KCR.
The transport minister further told the assembly that the federal government has a 60 per cent share in the KCR, while the provincial government has a 60 per cent share. He requested members from both the treasury and the opposition to table and pass a joint resolution urging the federal government to hand over the control of the KCR project to the provincial government so that the abandoned project could be resumed.
Speaker Durani also observed that members of both the treasury and the opposition benches should move this joint resolution to ensure the early resumption of the KCR work under the provincial government of Sindh.
Quorum issues lead to SA deferring two bills for Thar, Kohistan development
Sindh Assembly here on Monday deferred the consideration of two government bills to the next session.
As per details, the Sindh assembly convened with Speaker Aga Siraj Durrani as the Chair. When the sitting started 32 minutes later than its scheduled time of 10:00am only 18 members were present.
Two government bills, Bill No 2/2015 (The Thar Development Authority Bill 2015), and Bill No3/ 2015 (The Kohistan Development Authority Bill 2015) that were due for consideration were deferred to the next day on the request of Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sikandar Mandhro.
Leader of the opposition, Shaharyar Khan Mahar (PML-F) moved an adjournment motion to discuss the issue that the Sindh government has increased the drainage tax up to Rs. 100, which is not justifiable. However, Mandhro opposed the adjournment motion and the chair rejected it for being “out of order.”
A privilege motion by Nand Kumar (PML-F) was on the agenda but it was rejected, as the mover was absent.
Out of five calling attention notices, four (50, 69, 80, 108) were raised by the movers and answered by the respective ministers, who assured that the issues raised would be solved.
Later, the chair adjourned the House until Friday.