Lahore Transport Company (LTC) Chairman and Advisor to the CM, Khawaja Ahmad Hassaan on Friday directed officers that every LTC general manager should travel on public transport with their staff at least once a week in order to enhance and monitor the performance of transport operators and address grievances of the public.
He was addressing a meeting at the LTC Headquarters to review the company’s performance. Hassaan said that he would occasionally travel on public transport himself to monitor the performance of LTC officers and obtain the public’s feedback. The LTC chairman said that officers should be in the field rather than offices. He said that human and financial resources of the LTC were being utilised for reformation of the urban transport sector in Lahore. Hassan said that only those buses should ply on roads, which meet the technical standards set by the LTC Board of Directors. He said that the government has allocated sources for refurbishment of old buses. The LTC chairman said that 250 buses have been identified, which would be refurbished from this allocation. Hassaan said that third party evaluation is being conducted in order to ascertain the extent of damage to old buses. He said that advisory committee of the LTC has been established in order to incorporate valuable input of transporters, members of civil society and the media to formulate urban transport policy of Lahore. The second meeting of the advisory committee has been convened on June 20. Hassaan said that the engineering and planning wing has been organised in the LTC, which is working to strengthening the urban transport system. He said that the transparent system of distribution of subsidy has been evolved in the LTC and the whole working of the LTC, including issuance of route permit, will be carried out in a transparent manner. The LTC chairman said that levy of 16 percent general sales tax (GST) on purchase of new buses was regretful and the Punjab government has taken up the matter with the federal government. The levy of GST has potential to disrupt transport planning in Punjab, he added. This issue must be perceived as a national issue because the eventual victim of this GST would be the common man, Hassan said.
