The Metro Bus Project for the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad is all set to launch, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will do the honours of inaugurating the project on June 3 (tomorrow).
In this regard, senior journalists and columnists of the country were given a detailed briefing about the project by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. He was flanked by Information Minister Senator Pervez Rashid and project in-charge Hanif Abbasi. The CM had floated the idea for the MBS and launched the project in Lahore, that effort has now been replicated for Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Though Shahbaz Sharif did not share the exact date for the launch of Metro project, a source privy to him said that the government was gearing up for a June 3 launch.
On the occasion, the journalists were taken to tour the entire Metro Bus Route. Senator Pervez Rashid accompanied the journalists from print and electronic media during the ride over the route of the Metro Bus Project from Pakistan Secretariat to Rawalpindi Saddar. Though some finishing work was underway, almost 95 per cent of the project has been completed.
The workforce was busy at almost all the bus stations, while escalators and elevators were functioning well.
Initially the cost of the project was put at Rs 20 billion, however, it later escalated to Rs 44.84 billion. Rs 19.17 billion have been spent on Rawalpindi part of the project while Islamabad part has consumed Rs 23.84 billion. Another Rs 1.38 billion have been spent on Bus Depot while a state-of-the-art control and command system has been installed with a cost of Rs 0.45 billion.
There was a glaring contradiction between the stance of Shahbaz Sharif and the draft provided by the government. The draft claimed that the project had been completed in 13 months time while the sit-ins by PTI & PAT workers had wasted almost six long months.
On the contrary, Shahbaz Sharif said that the project had been completed in almost eight months as around six months got wasted due to the PTI/PAT sit in outside the parliament house.
“This was the time of uncertainty and as you know, the bureaucracy literally sat idle during this period of uncertainty,” Shahbaz Sharif observed.
For the project, federal and Punjab governments have provided Rs 22.42 billion each while the federal government has provided an additional Rs 3 billion for the Peshawar Mor Interchange. Total length of the project is 23 kilometres out of which 8.6 kilometres is high rise/elevated part while 10 kilometres is at grade and four kilometres is in a trench or underground.
68 articulated air-conditioned busses would be plied on the corridor, which has been provided a signal-free and dedicated road. Two flyovers, 14 pedestrian underpasses and 13 vehicular underpasses have been built to ensure the signal-free corridor.
24 central bus stations have been constructed out of which 14 are in Islamabad and 10 in Rawalpindi. Moreover, 83 escalators and elevators have been constructed for special persons besides 432 automatic platform-screen-doors have been installed. The maintenance of the project has been outsourced.
Addressing the journalists on the occasion, Shahbaz Sharif termed the project a game changer for the development of te Pakistani society. The CM said that the buses have been provided by a private operator, M/s Albayak through international competitive bidding, and an estimated 1,35,000 passengers would travel through the buses on a daily-basis.
A state-of-the-art Bus depot has also been constructed on 16.5 acres of land in Islamabad, where 100 buses could be parked. The depot has modern facilities where buses would be refuelled, get maintenance. and other related facilities. The control & command system is under construction at Sadr Rawalpindi which would also have CCTV cameras to monitor the entire route, besides housing three dedicated floors for car parking.
Rs 324 million have been spent on landscaping and horticulture to help bring the area to its original look.
Shahbaz Sharif claimed to have completed the project in a record time despite several hiccups, adding that the people of Pakistan would now decide who believes in serving them and who believes in making false claims.
“This is a national project as around three to four million people from four provinces, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and Fata live in Islamabad who would benefit from this project. We have ensured transparency in this project,” claimed the chief minister Punjab.
He said that the government had broken the unholy alliance between the government and contractors by introducing a third-party validation in the project.
“No payment would be paid to any contractor without a third party validation certificate. We have provided modern facilities to the common public through this project. In past, only elites were benefiting of such valued facilities,” he added.
He disapproved of the questions that implied that the government was trying to win public support in the upcoming local government elections in Punjab.
Asked how long the government would provide a subsidy for the deficit Metro Project, Sharif said that all over the world such transport projects were running in deficit and the governments had to provide a subsidy.
“Just examine the London Bus project or the one in Istanbul or anywhere else in the world. Such projects are always deficit in terms of budget as the government has to look after the common man’s transport services,” he claimed.
Asked why Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif always took him along on his trips to China while chief ministers from smaller provinces were ignored, Shahbaz Sharif said despite his 12 tours to China, Punjab had only been given projects worth US $ 4.5 billion out of US$ 33 billion.
“In comparison to Punjab, Sindh has been allocated projects worth US$ 10 billion. So I am working for Pakistan and not for only Punjab. Moreover, KP chief Minister Pervez Khattak and Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah were also invited by PM but they refused,” he claimed.
He added that Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik had also accompanied the prime minister on trips to China. He said that the Gadani project had not been shelved and the fact was that it could not be completed by 2017-18.