Provincial govt made changes in Peshawar BRT project: ADB

ISLAMABAD: Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’ host Shahzeb Khanzada, in his programme on Wednesday said the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in Peshawar has not only become a headache for the PTI government but is also troubling the citizens besides causing heavy losses to the national kitty.

Details related to the project have belied the KP government claims. This project started in 2017 and was due to complete in six months. But after a passage of one and a half years, it is yet to complete. When asked, the authorities concerned said the government has no role in it as it is only supervising the project. They said the Asian Development Bank, which is funding the project, is responsible for causing the delay as the project design was changed on its directions.

Khanzada said: “Our investigations are not only belying the PTI claims but also putting the onus for all the trouble on the PTI KP government. When we contacted the Asian Development Bank, it said all changes in the BRT project were made by the KP government itself. The Bank only gave approval to changes in the project design, which were sought by the KP government.”

The Bank officials said when the project’s PC-1 was approved in May 2017, its cost was $587 million (Rs61 billion). At that time, one dollar cost Rs104.83. This way, the project cost was Rs68 billion. Interestingly, today one dollar costs Rs142. If the ADB cost is evaluated, the project now costs over Rs83 billion.

Khanzada said the PTI government is blaming bureaucrats for the delay. The KP government removed the secretary transport and the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) director general in this regard. According to the ADB officials,the KP chief minister, after the completion of the initial design, decided to make two changes in the corridor alignment in May 2017. These two changes resulted in changes in the engineering stage. So there were a total of 12 changes in the BRT corridor. In the past, former KP CM Pervaiz Khattak blamed the ADB for the delay in the project. ADB documents reveal that the repeated deadlines to complete the project were given by the KP government itself and the bank has no role in it.

Khanzada said repeated lies by the government have raised questions about the project transparency. The Provincial Inspection Team (PIT), in its report, has said faulty planning, designing and carelessness wasted the public money. Before the BRT project, the government had done several development works including widening of roads. This development had solved the traffic problems to a large extent. But the BRT project wasted all the development.

Federal Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak, who was KP CM at the time of initiation of BRT Peshawar, said in the programme that the work of provincial government was to monitor and review progress of the BRT and what was his guilt if the company had developed fault in its design and map.

The former chief minister said that his duty was not to see design as he was not an engineer. He said that he had issued directions to complete the project forthwith and the project was given to a contractor. The contract got the extension with change of design, he added.

Pervaiz Khattak said the BRT project had been completed but arrival of buses got late. He said that 20 buses had arrived while 20 more were coming. He said that IT system would start working after the completion of parking area.

Pervaiz Khattak said that tender and agreement for the BRT Peshawar was made for six months. He said the provincial government was not making BRT and it was the project of ADB and world renowned construction company Ferguson was monitoring this project. He said that ADB was monitoring its all billing, checking and technical things.

The former CM said that BRT project took 17 months, not two years. He said that Metro Bus projects of Punjab and Islamabad were also completed in 17 months.

While replying a question about an allegation levelled against him, Pervaiz Khattak said he laughed to see his (Shahzeb) logic as both of them would appear before God and account for their deeds “and we would discuss there that why you are levelling allegations against me”. He told Shahzeb that he did not move from his point and he (Pervaiz Khattak) was wasting his time with the host. “Your main object is to get credit by criticising me or any other person,” he said.

Pervaiz Khattak told Shahzeb that he meets people and hear their issues “and you are sitting in the room and how you would know what is going on in the world”.

KP Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai said in the programme that BRT Peshawar was a great project and it was being made controversial unnecessarily. He said the change in the BRT design was inevitable as people near Qila Balahisar refused to leave their place and people in the Cant area also objected to it. He said the government was bound to keep the welfare of the people in mind. He said the chief minister visits the site of the BRT every week.

In the last part of the programme, Khanzada said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed the first intermediate reference in the fake bank accounts case and recovered Rs600 million. No big political figure has been named in the reference, but former president Asif Ali Zardari’s close aide Younas Kidwai has been named as co-accused. The JIT, which probed the fake bank accounts case, has declared Kidwai the front man of Zardari. In the reference, the NAB has nominated eight senior officials. The most important name in this reference is of Kidwai. According to NAB sources, the first recovery in the reference has been made through Kidwai. The accused has handed over documents of Rs600 million land to the NAB Rawalpindi.