KARACHI - The Sindh government announced that a ship from China carrying 20 buses for Orange Line bus rapid transit service (BRTS) would arrive here on May 11.
It also set May 30 as the deadline to complete all the remaining jobs of the Orange Line project lifting hopes of Karachiites to get benefit of the four-kilometre-long service after more than five years of its ground-breaking in 2016.
The announcement came from Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon, who also holds the portfolio of transport. He visited the site of the project and was briefed by officials about the pace of work to complete the long-awaited project.
The minister directed the Sindh transport department to complete all the remaining tasks by May 30 and make the route ready for the service in the first week of June.
“The Sindh Mass Transit Authority has been directed to set up a camp office at the depot of Orange Line and to complete the remaining tasks by May 30, positively,” he told reporters. “I have decided to visit the site thrice a week and review the progress till the project is completed.” He said the Rs4.29 billion Sindh government-funded Orange Line was named after Abdul Sattar Edhi. It starts from Orangi Town and connects with Green Line at Nazimabad Board Office. “Some 20 buses of Orange Line project are arriving at Karachi Port on May 11,” he announced.
Later, the information minister visited the Karachi Press Club (KPC), met with the members of the governing body and office-bearers. In his brief talk at the club, he promised that the Sindh government would provide residential plots to remaining 700 members of the KPC on subsidised rates.
The Orange Line BRT, he said, had been named after philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi. He added that the length of the Orange Line BRT was four kilometres, and it ran from TMA Ground in Orangi Town all the way to the Board Office, where it connected with the Green Line BRT.
The project’s cost has been estimated at Rs4.290 billion. NESPAK is the consultant for the project. The project’s original cost in 2016, when its construction started, was Rs1.14 billion.
The project’s 98 per cent work has been completed. “The Sindh government has completed this project through its own resources,” Memon said, adding that all the funding had been provided by the provincial government.
The federal government-mandated Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited is procuring buses for the project for which payment has been done by the provincial government. The minister announced that 20 buses for the BRT would reach the city on May 11.
Minister orders completion of all remaining tasks by May 30 and make route ready for service in first week of June
For one week, he said, there would be testing of the buses on the Orange Line’s segregated track. Responding to a question, he said former prime minister Iman Khan was in a state of despair these days. He added that there were mega corruption scandals against Khan and he was trying to divert attention from those scandals by creating chaos in the country. Memon said that the arrogance of Khan had caused irreparable damage to the country. The former premier, he said, should apologise to the nation for his mistakes and prepare himself for the upcoming elections.
He criticised the former PM for asking his party supporters in his political processions to make their disgruntled members of National Assembly a symbol of disgrace.
He demanded that the federal government take notice of this.
KPC visit
Memon also visited the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Saturday where he announced that the remaining 700 council members of the club would be given residential plots by the provincial government.
It was his first visit to the KPC since he recently got the portfolio of the provincial information ministry after he was inducted into the Sindh cabinet.
Memon told the KPC office-bearers that a summary would be sent to the Sindh chief minister for approval of the proposal of alloting residential plots to members of the press club.
He asserted that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had the fullest belief in the freedom of press. The Sindh government of the PPP believed that problems of media persons should be resolved on a priority basis and doing so was not like extending any favour to the journalist fraternity, he said.
He remarked that the KPC was a historical press club of Pakistan as it had always been at the forefront of the struggle for the survival and strengthening of democratic order in the country.
Memon claimed that the PPP had never resorted to victimisation against any journalist as it always stood for the welfare and well-being of the journalists, and at the same time, it had opposed the legislation aimed at restricting the freedom of media.
He appealed to different representative associations of the journalists to unite on a single platform after overcoming their mutual differences to speedily get resolved the problems of the media persons.
He recalled on the occasion that journalists had been given residential plots during the regime of late prime minister Benazir Bhutto while Asif Ali Zardari during his tenure as the president continued with the policy.
Answering a question concerning the Charter of Democracy, he said that Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif had both signed the historic document. He explained that the charter did not belong to any particular person or single political party as it stood for the survival and strengthening of democracy in Pakistan.
To another question, the information minister alleged that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had introduced the culture of using abusive language against political opponents and the party wanted to cause anarchy in the country.
He conceded that the hike in the prices of essential products had emerged as a big problem in the country and all the political parties that were part of the present coalition government in the Centre were playing their due role in this regard.
He said the national economy had been left on the verge of bankruptcy due to sheer bad governance by the previous regime of the PTI as all the indicators had been showing that the economic situation had been in a shambles.
To a question related to the transport facilities in the province, Memon said he had been told by Bilawal and the Sindh CM that the transportation issue of Karachi should be resolved on a priority basis.
Answering another question regarding water shortage in the province, he said Sindh had been facing water shortage up to 48 per cent under the water accord of 1991 while Punjab had been facing up to 32 per cent water shortage. He said the Sindh CM had contacted the prime minister in this regard.
Memon said all the PPP wanted was that Sindh should be given its due water share in accordance with the accord and the fulfilment of this demand would not be like extending any undue favour to the province.
He said the Sindh government would also raise the issue of certain areas of the province facing power cuts lasting up to 16 hours a day. He added that the relevant power distribution companies should immediately improve their service.
It also set May 30 as the deadline to complete all the remaining jobs of the Orange Line project lifting hopes of Karachiites to get benefit of the four-kilometre-long service after more than five years of its ground-breaking in 2016.
The announcement came from Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon, who also holds the portfolio of transport. He visited the site of the project and was briefed by officials about the pace of work to complete the long-awaited project.
The minister directed the Sindh transport department to complete all the remaining tasks by May 30 and make the route ready for the service in the first week of June.
“The Sindh Mass Transit Authority has been directed to set up a camp office at the depot of Orange Line and to complete the remaining tasks by May 30, positively,” he told reporters. “I have decided to visit the site thrice a week and review the progress till the project is completed.” He said the Rs4.29 billion Sindh government-funded Orange Line was named after Abdul Sattar Edhi. It starts from Orangi Town and connects with Green Line at Nazimabad Board Office. “Some 20 buses of Orange Line project are arriving at Karachi Port on May 11,” he announced.
Later, the information minister visited the Karachi Press Club (KPC), met with the members of the governing body and office-bearers. In his brief talk at the club, he promised that the Sindh government would provide residential plots to remaining 700 members of the KPC on subsidised rates.
The Orange Line BRT, he said, had been named after philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi. He added that the length of the Orange Line BRT was four kilometres, and it ran from TMA Ground in Orangi Town all the way to the Board Office, where it connected with the Green Line BRT.
The project’s cost has been estimated at Rs4.290 billion. NESPAK is the consultant for the project. The project’s original cost in 2016, when its construction started, was Rs1.14 billion.
The project’s 98 per cent work has been completed. “The Sindh government has completed this project through its own resources,” Memon said, adding that all the funding had been provided by the provincial government.
The federal government-mandated Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited is procuring buses for the project for which payment has been done by the provincial government. The minister announced that 20 buses for the BRT would reach the city on May 11.
Minister orders completion of all remaining tasks by May 30 and make route ready for service in first week of June
For one week, he said, there would be testing of the buses on the Orange Line’s segregated track. Responding to a question, he said former prime minister Iman Khan was in a state of despair these days. He added that there were mega corruption scandals against Khan and he was trying to divert attention from those scandals by creating chaos in the country. Memon said that the arrogance of Khan had caused irreparable damage to the country. The former premier, he said, should apologise to the nation for his mistakes and prepare himself for the upcoming elections.
He criticised the former PM for asking his party supporters in his political processions to make their disgruntled members of National Assembly a symbol of disgrace.
He demanded that the federal government take notice of this.
KPC visit
Memon also visited the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Saturday where he announced that the remaining 700 council members of the club would be given residential plots by the provincial government.
It was his first visit to the KPC since he recently got the portfolio of the provincial information ministry after he was inducted into the Sindh cabinet.
Memon told the KPC office-bearers that a summary would be sent to the Sindh chief minister for approval of the proposal of alloting residential plots to members of the press club.
He asserted that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had the fullest belief in the freedom of press. The Sindh government of the PPP believed that problems of media persons should be resolved on a priority basis and doing so was not like extending any favour to the journalist fraternity, he said.
He remarked that the KPC was a historical press club of Pakistan as it had always been at the forefront of the struggle for the survival and strengthening of democratic order in the country.
Memon claimed that the PPP had never resorted to victimisation against any journalist as it always stood for the welfare and well-being of the journalists, and at the same time, it had opposed the legislation aimed at restricting the freedom of media.
He appealed to different representative associations of the journalists to unite on a single platform after overcoming their mutual differences to speedily get resolved the problems of the media persons.
He recalled on the occasion that journalists had been given residential plots during the regime of late prime minister Benazir Bhutto while Asif Ali Zardari during his tenure as the president continued with the policy.
Answering a question concerning the Charter of Democracy, he said that Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif had both signed the historic document. He explained that the charter did not belong to any particular person or single political party as it stood for the survival and strengthening of democracy in Pakistan.
To another question, the information minister alleged that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had introduced the culture of using abusive language against political opponents and the party wanted to cause anarchy in the country.
He conceded that the hike in the prices of essential products had emerged as a big problem in the country and all the political parties that were part of the present coalition government in the Centre were playing their due role in this regard.
He said the national economy had been left on the verge of bankruptcy due to sheer bad governance by the previous regime of the PTI as all the indicators had been showing that the economic situation had been in a shambles.
To a question related to the transport facilities in the province, Memon said he had been told by Bilawal and the Sindh CM that the transportation issue of Karachi should be resolved on a priority basis.
Answering another question regarding water shortage in the province, he said Sindh had been facing water shortage up to 48 per cent under the water accord of 1991 while Punjab had been facing up to 32 per cent water shortage. He said the Sindh CM had contacted the prime minister in this regard.
Memon said all the PPP wanted was that Sindh should be given its due water share in accordance with the accord and the fulfilment of this demand would not be like extending any undue favour to the province.
He said the Sindh government would also raise the issue of certain areas of the province facing power cuts lasting up to 16 hours a day. He added that the relevant power distribution companies should immediately improve their service.