The agreement between Pakistan and China over Lahore Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project augurs well and the project will be a masterpiece of Pak-China friendship, said Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in a meeting with a representative delegation of China Railways and Norinco International China which called on him on Sunday.
Chinese Consul General in Lahore Yu Boren, senior officials of China Railways and Norinco International were also present on the occasion. Provincial ministers Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, Colonel (r) Shuja Khanzada, Begum Zakia Shahnawaz, provincial assembly member Rana Sanaullah, Lahore Transport Company Chairman Khawaja Ahmed Hassaan, Advisor Dr Ijaz Nabi, chief secretary, Punjab Metro Bus Authority managing director, Planning and Development chairman, secretaries concerned and senior officials also attended the meeting.
Talking to the delegation, the chief minister said that the project will result in speedy, comfortable and economical transport facilities to the citizens and will revolutionise the province’s transport system. He said that 27-kilometre long OLMT project will be completed speedily and transparently while a high standard of construction will also be maintained.
“The Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project is the first and unique project in Pakistan,” he said, adding that 26 stations will be constructed on the route of metro train and more than two hundred thousand people will travel by this train daily.
He said that the project will be a milestone in public transport sector. “Agreement on the project is the result of hard work of Punjab’s political and administrative team and Chinese institutions concerned,” he said while lauding the efforts of Rana Sanaullah, Khawaja Ahmed Hassan, Sibtain Fazal Haleem, chief secretary and other officials and departments, who worked day and night to make this project possible. He said that Pak-China friendship is higher than Himalayas, sweeter than honey, deeper than ocean and stronger than steel and is touching new heights with every passing day.
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He said that various Chinese companies are already working in Pakistan. He said that new avenues of cooperation between Pakistan and China have opened and the economic ties between the two countries have entered into a new era.