LAHORE: Pakistan Railways (PR) Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said Saturday that the government will not tolerate any political pressure and important decisions will not be allowed to be bulldozed in haste.
He was addressing a meeting between the PR administration and a delegation of the Sindh government on Karachi Circular Railways (KCR), held at the Railways Headquarters.
“We are ready to lay down the foundation stone of KCR by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. Seriousness and sincerity in this regard should be shown by both sides,” he said.
The minister said that the KCR was a historical and important project for the port city which should have been completed 30 years ago.
He said that he was saddened after seeing Karachi being haunted by so many problems, including vehicular traffic jams.
Speaking on the revival of PR, he said, “We do not work under political pressure. We work on the recommendations of professionals which allowed us to revive a failing railways system in the country.”
“We are ready to cooperate on the KCR project but do not want to cause any loss to the nation,” he added.
The minister suggested that upgradation of Karachi-Peshawar mainline under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) should be part of the feasibility report of the KCR, and urged the consultants to create unanimity on the design under the supervision of Chinese experts.
He directed the PR to cooperate on KCR for making it a profitable department by running it on commercial basis.
Moreover, Saad Rafique said that he personally visited former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and discussed the KCR issue with him, apart from writing several letters to the Sindh government in this connection. “It is not my job to remove encroachments from the route of KCR,” he added.
He further said that the government was ready to cooperate on KCR, but it was troublesome that no minister or secretary-level officer from Sindh was present in the meeting, even though top PR administration attended the meeting. This showed the sincerity and professionalism of PR to improve railways operations in the country, he added.
Furthermore, the minister said that Karachi could be freed from containers with the completion of KCR, after which freight transportation would be transported through trains via mainline-1.
“Only KCR will not resolve the traffic congestion issues of the city, as upgradation of mainline-1 is also important. Unfortunately, it is not included in the feasibility report of the KCR,” he added.
He also said that administrative matters and development projects in the country should not fall prey to politics. The minister also said that China was a great friend of Pakistan and the nation was thankful to it for making large investments in the country.
“There is no confusion in our minds about the provision of facilities to the people of Karachi, which is our responsibility,” he said.
“We had some reservations about the KCR, which had been addressed after provision of details,” he concluded.
PR CEO Humayun Rasheed, Advisor to PR Minister Anjum Pervaiz and other officers from the railways were present during the meeting. Sindh Mass Transit Authority Director General Athar led the Sindh government delegation.