NA speaker, ministers take a ride on BRT bus

PESHAWAR: The federal and provincial lawmakers took a ride here Thursday on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service.

However, federal Defence Minister Pervez Khattak became angry when reporters asked him about allegations of corruption in the BRT, which was launched when he was chief minister of the province in 2017. “Shoot me dead if anyone can prove that any embezzled money came to my home. In fact, those asking such questions are thieves. How much commission did you get to ask me this question?” he angrily reacted to the reporter.

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Federal Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Labour and Culture Shaukat Yousafzai and Advisor to Chief Minister for Transport Shah Muhammad Wazir visited the TransPeshawar head office and travelled in the BRT service.

Chief Executive Officer TransPeshawar gave a detailed presentation on BRT’s on-going operations in Peshawar and future projects. The guests praised the overall performance of BRT.

Federal Minister for Defense Pervez Khattak stated that the BRT Peshawar is an exemplary public transport system in Pakistan with more than 150,000 commuters using the service on a daily basis. He pointed out that since the inception of the project, the public exchequer money was spent in a very careful, calculated and transparent manner. He stated that the number of those using the BRT service would increase rapidly soon after the arrival of more buses and commencement of the remaining feeder routes followed by formally re-opening of all educational institutions.

Later, all public representatives travelled in BRT bus from Chamkani to the Mall of Hayatabad. During the journey, the public acknowledged the pivotal role of BRT in improving transportation facilities in the city.

Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser said that the intention to pay a surprise visit was to verify the effectiveness of the system without any doubt. He said travelling in BRT was nothing less than taking a ride in any international public mass transit system. He appreciated the role of TransPeshawar in putting dedicated and tireless efforts into maintaining this state-of-the-art public transport system.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan stated that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government successfully launched the Peshawar BRT project due to its commitment and dedication to offer a quality transport service to the people. He added that the project is a major undertaking not just in the development of the physical infrastructure of the city but as a catalyst for urban regeneration and economic growth.