Karachi: Zardari agreed in principle to give mass transit project back to CDGK

[Naveed Yaseen]

By M. Waqar Bhatti
The issue of the Karachi Mass Transit Project has taken another turn after President Asif Ali Zardari agreed in principle with the City District Government Karachi’s (CDGK) stance that mass transit was an “urban issue” and should be handled and implemented by the city authorities.

Sources privy to a meeting held in Islamabad disclosed that President Zardari listened to Karachi Nazim Mustafa Kamal’s stance and agreed that the mass transit project should be implemented by the CDGK. The meeting was attended by Sindh cabinet members from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), as well as the City Nazims of Karachi and Hyderabad

Sources said, however, said that no final decision in this regard was taken at the discussion and the President asked the provincial government to clarify and present its case as to why it wanted to form the Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA), and take over the Karachi Mass Transit Project.

It is worth mentioning here that the Sindh government had decided to create SMTA on the grounds that it was the demand of the donor agency — the Asian Development Bank (ADB) — to have a central authority to carry out the mega project.

On the other hand, senior CDGK officials refuted the provincial government claims saying the ADB had imposed no such condition and it was “very comfortable” with the CDGK and had been negotiating with it for last three years over the project.

“Instead, it was the present provincial government which sent a delegation to the ADB headquarters in Manila, Philippines, requesting them that they wanted to create a provincial authority. The provincial government also requested a cut in the ADB loan for the mass transit project (from US$800 million to US$550 million or US$600 million),” CDGK officials claimed.

They further said that City Nazim Mustafa Kamal had himself negotiated with the ADB for the US$800 million loan for the provincial government, which in turn had to be given to the CDGK as a grant for four different mega projects.

But after the taking over of PPP-led provincial government in Sindh, the provincial government negotiated with the ADB for the loan, calling for its deduction to USD 550 or 600 million and said the entire amount would be spent on the Karachi mass transit project.

ÔøžCDGK agreed on spending the entire amount on mass transit but when provincial government conveyed CDGK of creating the provincial mass transit authority to implement the project, city Nazim raised this issue with the president in a meeting on WednesdayÔøž they informed, adding that the president had accepted CDGKÔøžs point of view on this issue.

The CDGK officials, however, made it clear that no final decision had been taken or instructions issued to the provincial government by the president and instead, the provincial government was asked to clarify its position.

On the other hand, the provincial government officials said no decision as to give mass transit back to the CDGK was taken at the meeting with the president, arguing it was the demand of the ADB as well as other stakeholders to create a central authority to implement the project.

ÔøžEverybody knows that the CDGK or any other district government in the country cannot initiate and complete such a mega project. There are many other agencies and institutions involved in the project and they can only be handled by a central authorityÔøž they argued.

Critics and observers monitoring the situation said the rift between the provincial and city governments over the issue could further delay the project, as so far the donor agency Asian Development Bank was confused about the implementing authority as well as the amount needed for the project.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=136692