CM wants 200-300 diesel buses in City

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Saturday, April 10, 2010
By Our Correspondent

LAHORE

CHIEF Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has directed the Lahore Transport Company to make a plan for plying 200 to 300 diesel buses on the road of the provincial metropolis next month, saying that the CNG buses should be inducted in the transport system in the second phase. He said subsidy should also be given on diesel buses to encourage investors.

Presiding over a meeting on Friday, the CM said public transport system was an indicator of the level of development of a country and no nation could progress without an efficient transport system. He said that keeping in view the importance of the transport system, the government was paying attention to the development of the sector and provision of modern transport facilities to the masses. He said that besides foreign investors, local investors and transport owners should also be encouraged.

Shahbaz said subsidy on diesel buses would encourage locally-manufactured diesel buses and local investors would be able to make the maximum investment in the sector. He said that in the first phase, up to 300 diesel buses should be brought on the roads immediately and most of them should be air-conditioned. He said an order should immediately be placed for the import of more CNG buses so that after diesel buses, the CNG buses could also be used for providing transport facilities to the citizens.

The chief minister directed the Transport secretary to submit recommendations for the provision of modern transport facilities in other major cities of the province on the pattern of Lahore.

Lahore Transport Company Chairman Tasneem Noorani gave a briefing to the meeting while MPA Mohsin Latif, the Transport secretary, Lahore Commissioner, DIG Traffic as well as senior officers concerned were present.

uplift projects: Shahbaz Sharif said on Friday that the resources were plundered in the past on the pretext of development projects while billions of rupees were embezzled from uplift funds. Addressing a meeting to review the pace of development projects in the province on Friday, he said the projects executed in the tenure of the present government could be compared with those of any developed country regarding transparency and standard.

Shahbaz said that billions of rupees were being spent on the construction of roads, bridges, underpasses and other projects in the province. He said the government had to bear heavy additional expenditure due to the delay in uplift schemes during the tenure of former government and the collusion between contractors and officers of department concerned was the main cause of the delay and substandard work. He said had the department concerned performed its responsibilities efficiently and kept a watchful eye on quality and timeframe of uplift schemes, the public money could have been saved.

The CM said the present government had introduced a third-party audit system in all the mega projects. He said solid measures were also being taken for the development of less-developed areas of the province and uplift projects were being executed in such areas on a priority basis. He said the Maulana Shaukat Ali and Madr-e-Millat roads, Sagian and Shalimar interchanges and the Lahore Ring Road Package-6 &7 completed recently were a masterpiece of construction and they had been executed within a timeframe. He said that the projects had resulted in provision of better transport facilities to the masses and they would leave a far-reaching impact on the progress of the province.

The meeting also reviewed the pace of major development projects in Kasur, Bahawalpur, Chiniot and other districts of the province.

The Communications secretary, representatives of Nespak and officers of the departments concerned were present.