Sindh Mass Transit Authority on the anvil

[Naveed Yaseen]

CM to head authority, City Nazim others to be members
By M. Waqar Bhatti
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has decided to establish the Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA) to implement the Karachi Mass Transit project, including the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT), The News has learnt.

Interviews with officials of the Sindh planning and development department as well as the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) confirmed that a provincial mass transit authority was about to be established and would be headed by the Sindh chief minister.

Officials of the provincial government claimed that the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which had been providing finances for various projects of urban transport in Karachi, had demanded the creation of a central authority to have full control of the entire project.

They said that a notification regarding the establishment of the SMTA would be issued very soon and added that the deputy chairman of the planning commission, the federal and provincial secretaries of transport and communication, the Pakistan railways chairman, the civil aviation authority (CAA), the KPT chairman, the City Nazim and the DCO Karachi would also be members of the SMTA.

Officials argued that the CDGK, which was earlier working on the revival of the KCR as well as other components of the Karachi Mass Transit Project, lacked the capacity to undertake the entire project single-handedly.

“The Karachi Mass Transit project also involves Cantonment Boards, KPT, civil aviation, Pakistan railways and many other agencies whose land would be utilized for the project. It is a multi-billion-dollar project and needs a central authority for implementation,” a finance department official said.

It was further learnt that the Sindh government had informally informed the CDGK of taking over its Karachi Mega City Sustainable Development Programme (KMCSDP) and asked for the closure of its Local Support Unit (LSU) that had to implement some of the components of the mass transit project.

Officials further claimed that despite carrying out several studies on the various components of mass transit, nothing was on the ground as the CDGK lacked the capacity, expertise, funds and support to implement such big projects.

‘In the revival of the KCR for instance, the CDGK’s transport department officials know nothing about railways, rail tracks and other technicalities. The revival of the KCR must include the Pakistan railways and they can be approached or rather handled by the provincial government better than the CDGK,’ they claimed.

It is worth mentioning here that the ADB has agreed to provide US$600 million for the implementation of the BRTS as well as the studies for the Karachi Light Rail Mass Transit System. On the other hand, the provincial government’s plan to take over the Karachi Mass Transit project has created unrest among the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)-led CDGK.

City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal himself confirmed to The News in an interview that he had called on Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and requested him to refrain from establishing the provincial mass transit authority and taking over the city’s transport projects.

“The provincial government has directed for abolishing the local support unit of the KMCSDP as they are now taking over the mass transit project but I believe that nothing in Karachi can be done without taking the CDGK on board,” he said.

Kamal was, however, optimistic about laying a base for the Karachi Mass Transit project, despite provincial government’s intervention, before the completion of his tenure. He said that the issue would be resolved through negotiations.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=136102