Minister seeks Punjab support for Islamabad metro bus

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance and Revenue Hafeez Shaikh on Friday asked Punjab government to provide technical assistance and buses for operationalising the metro bus corridor from Peshawar Morr (G-9) to New Islamabad International Airport.

Shaikh in a meeting stressed the provincial government to support the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to operationalise the metro bus corridor by providing the requisite number of buses and technical know-how until the CDA establishes its own mass transit authority along with all the allied infrastructure and wherewithal.

A sub-committee headed by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Jehanzeb Khan was constituted to finalise the arrangements between CDA and the Punjab government for running buses on the newly-constructed metro-bus corridor.

The National Highway Authority completed the construction on the corridor and handed over the 26- kilometre long project to CDA. The project has already been delayed by more than two years. Launched in January 2017, the metro bus project was to hit the ground running by August 2018.

The project cost was estimated at Rs16 billion. However, it could not be completed on time due to delay in release of funds.

Interestingly, the project could not take off as all the development agencies, including National Highway Authority, Capital Development Authority and the Punjab Mass Transit Authority, were not interested to run the buses. The government, however, tasked the CDA to manage reins.

CDA Chairman Aamir Ali Ahmed emphasised upon the need to operationalise the metrobus corridor immediately for providing a comfortable, safe and secure transportation facility to the commuters in the capital city.

Ali informed the meeting that the cabinet had already approved formation of capital mass transit authority to run the metro bus service. However, the CDA required support from the Punjab Mass Transit Authority in the form of buses and technical know-how to make the corridor operational.

The CDA chairman requested the Punjab Mass Transit Authority to provide the buses to operationalise the newly constructed metro-bus corridor until the capital mass transit authority becomes functional.