Govt decides to revive National Mass Transit Authority

[Naveed Yaseen]

SMTA MD rubbishes rift between CDGK, Sindh govt
Saturday, October 11, 2008
By M. Waqar Bhatti
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has directed that the National Mass Transit Authority (NAMTA) be revived – for the third time since 1994 – with the federal Railways Minister as its chief. He has also directed that provincial mass transit authorities be set up in all four provinces to promote, plan, develop and regulate an urban mass transit system in all major cities of the country.

Taking a lead in this regard, the Sindh government, 10 to 12 days ago, had established the Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA) with former DCO Dadu District Dr Mukhtar Soomro as its Managing Director and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah as the authority’s Chairman, Mukhtar Soomro confirmed to The News on Friday.

Soomro dispelled the impression that the creation of the SMTA could create a rift between the Sindh government and the City District Government Karachi (CDGK), saying it had not interfered with projects initiated by the CDGK nor has it any such intentions.

Soomro said that, during a meeting in the last week of September, the prime minister had directed that the NAMTA be revived and it was decided that Chairman, Railway Board, who is also the federal Railways Minister, would head the body as its chairman.

During the meeting, provincial governments were also urged to establish provincial mass transit authorities, he said, adding that Sindh has taken a lead in this regard by creating the SMTA, which was placed under the administrative control of the provincial Finance Department. It is worth mentioning here that the NAMTA was set up by Benazir-led PPP government in 1994 with senior PPP leader Prof. N.D Khan as its chief but, before initiating any project, it was rolled back along with the dismissal of the PPP government.

The NAMTA was revived again in 2007 on the directives of the then prime minister Shaukat Aziz and it was decided at a meeting chaired by former federal Railways Minister Shaikh Rasheed Ahmed that NAMTA would act as a regulatory authority for mass transit systems. However, the authority remained functionless till the completion of the previous government’s tenure owing to political turmoil as well as many other factors and no progress was made on planning, conducting feasibility studies or executing mass transit systems in major cities of the country.

The MD SMTA Dr Mukhtar Soomro believed that with the revival of NAMTA and creation of a provincial mass transit authority, work on various proposals of mass transit systems in the major urban centers of the province would be expedited.

“Currently, the SMTA is in its initial stage and as such it is not fully functional at the moment. The authority’s composition has also not been completed as yet,” he said, adding that the authority was yet to convene its first meeting since its inception. “We are planning to hold the first meeting of the mass transit authority in the 3rd or 4th week of this month, depending on the availability of the Sindh chief minister,” he informed.

Commenting on the role of provincial mass transit authority, he said that the need for creating such a body was felt keeping in view the transport requirements of major urban centres of the province including Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas and Nawabshah. “Top priority would of course be given to Karachi for being the capital of the province but other major cities of the province also need mass transit systems as their population is also growing at the same speed,” he informed. Dispelling an impending rift between the CDGK and the Sindh government, Soomro said that, “all the mass transit projects are in their early stages and there is need for a centralized authority to materialize and execute all these projects. Mass transit projects require huge funding that can only be arranged by the provincial and federal governments from the donor agencies,” he claimed.

According to him, the Nazims and DCOs of major cities of the province would also be members of the authority, as, without their presence, mass transit projects could not be planned and executed as per their own needs and requirements.

On the other hand, the CDGK was not satisfied with the creation of SMTA and the City Nazim Karachi had reportedly raised the issue with President Asif Zardari in a meeting last month that was also attended by the Sindh CM and the provincial cabinet members.

On the creation of SMTA, the CDGK officials expressed fears that it could jeopardize all their efforts for various mass transit projects being pursued by the city government and citizens might have to wait for years to have transport facilities of international standard.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=140383