By By Qadeer Tanoli
In pursuance of the guidelines of the federal planning commission, the Sindh services and general administration department has issued a notification for the constitution of a provincial supervisory committee under the chairmanship of the Sindh chief secretary for the execution of the CNG bus project.
Departmental heads concerned from the federal and provincial governments and the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) will be members of this committee, The News has learnt.
The Karachi Mass Transit Cell (KMTC) director-general will be the secretary of the supervisory committee that will monitor the smooth implementation of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto CNG Bus Project. According to sources in the CDGK, these decisions were taken last week and the committee will submit quarterly reports to the federal environment and finance ministries.
The committee may also hire the services of any person as and when required, because the federal government wants to see proper implementation of the project. The additional Sindh chief secretary will also be a member of this broad-based committee.
High officials of the Hydro Carbon Development Institute of Pakistan, Infrastructure Project Development Facilities, Ministry of Finance, Planning Commission, and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) will be inducted as members of this committee on behalf of the federal government. The Sindh government will be represented by the transport and finance secretaries and the district coordination officer (DCO).
It may be noted here that this is the third time that a committee of this sort has been constituted for the project in question. The Implementation Regulatory Committee (IRC), headed by the DCO, and Project Implementation and Monitoring Unit (PIMU) are already in place to monitor the project. Sources believe that the constitution of the supervisory committee will expedite the implementation of the project.
Sources said that apart from providing environment-friendly means of transportation to the residents of Karachi, the project will also create a considerable number of direct and indirect job opportunities in the city. Around 20,000 job opportunities are likely to be created after the arrival of 4,000 busses in the city.
Around 16,000 drivers and conductors will be recruited. Jobs will also be created for battery operators and lubrication manufacturers. According to the sources, 14 qualified bidders, comprising suppliers and manufacturers across the world, will supply buses for this project. Four of these companies are local, and 10 operate offshore. The prices of these buses vary from Rs3.8 million to Rs12.50 million.