PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has said Salman Shahbaz, son of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, is creating doubts about the transparency of the Peshawar’s Rapid Bus Transit (BRT) project.
According to an official handout, he said in a tweet Salman Shahbaz tried to divert attention from the alleged corruption committed in the Orange Train Lahore, Islamabad Metro, Multan Metro and Lahore Metro and several other projects in Punjab. The chief minister drew a comparison between the BRT and other projects of similar nature, adding, the former had prominent features that other metro projects didn't have.
He insisted that the BRT was a transparent project wherein everything was open, transparent and nothing had ever been kept secret in the entire process from the commencement to the implementation stage of the project. Khattak said the Asian Development Bank was involved in the BRT design, procurement process, payment to contractors at each and every step in its overall execution. He said the ADB had financed the project.
He made it clear that after the technical clearance of the ADB and stringent scrutiny of the government committee, the lowest bid was accepted, adding there was not even an iota of doubt about the transparency of the procurement process.
The chief minister said Peshawar High Court, on December 7, last year had declared the entire process completely legal. He said the BRT contractor, Maqbool Colson, had not been black-listed by any government agency. “Unlike Punjab, the BRT was designed on self sustainable basis. It will not involve any subsidy from the government,” added.
The chief minister said the contract of the project was made through international bidding. The contractors were technically cleared by the ADB through very stringent and transparent process. The contractor was a joint venture between Maqbool Colson and Chinese companies like China railway 1st Group and SGEC.
He said payments to the contractors were not made through any provincial government agency. “The bills were prepared by the PDA, scrutinized by the ADB and payments were made directly to the contractors by the ADB, hence leaving little cushion for exploitation of the contractor by the government agencies,” he added.
Pervez Khattak said the contractor of the BRT, Maqbool Colson, was not black listed. However, he had a dispute with the Lahore Development Authority in Orange Line Project. Chief Minister termed BRT as third generation project in real sense and said that there were several unique features of the Peshawar BRT making it the best Mass Transit System in Pakistan.
The features included staging facility with park & ride, and commercial area, Park & ride facility at depots, six storeys parking plaza, seven feeder BRT routes, 150 bus shelters for feeder routes, overtaking/passing lanes at station, ambulance & emergency vehicle access to BRT corridor.