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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to operationalise the Islamabad Metro Bus Service from April 16 and ordered an inquiry into an inordinate delay in the initiation of the service.
The prime minister issued the directives during his visit to Peshawar Mor station of the Islamabad metro bus service at 7am and reviewed the on-ground progress of the project. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Ahsan Iqbal, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Hanif Abbasi and Anjum Aqeel accompanied the premier during the visit.
He resented that the project, launched by the PML-N government in 2017 with a stipulated completion time of a year, remained incomplete to date.
Construction of the 25.6km metro track worth Rs16 billion was started in January 2017. The project was executed by the National Highway Authority (NHA) and was supposed to be completed in August 2018. However, the project faced delay and its civil work was completed last year.
During PM Shehbaz’s visit today, officials of the NHA and the CDA briefed him about the project. According to a statement, the premier asked the officials to ensure the installation of racks in the buses to accommodate the luggage of passengers going to the airport.
Prime Minister has ordered free metro service for the citizens of the capital during the month of #Ramadan. He expressed dismay over delays in the project terming it severe negligence as 16 billion rupees have been spent on the project so far. pic.twitter.com/KGVSE3NSDl
— Prime Minister’s Office (@PMO_PK) April 14, 2022
He expressed dismay over the delay in the project, terming it “severe negligence” while pointing out that Rs16 billion rupees had been spent on the project so far. He claimed it was unfair towards the general public whose tax money had been consumed, but that the facility in turn was being denied to them.
PM Shehbaz directed the officials concerned to make terms of reference for an inquiry to assess the reasons for the delay that led to the loss of national wealth. The premier also ordered initiation of a free metro service for residents of the capital during the month of Ramazan.
The project
It was highlighted that initially, 30 buses would operate on the 24-kilometre-long track from Peshawar More to Islamabad International Airport. Fifteen buses would be taken from Punjab Mass Transit Authority, Rawalpindi till the new fleet was added to the Islamabad metro service.
Buses would be covered in orange skin for route coding. The NHA to N5 station will take six-eight minutes and from N5 to the airport around 25-30 minutes. The shuttle service will be run on a stretch of 11 kilometres.
