KP transport minister sends BRT travel card to Bilawal

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Transport Minister Shah Mohammad Wazir has sent a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) travel card to PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari after the latter criticised the project.

Speaking to Geo News on Sunday, Wazir confirmed that the PPP chair had been sent a travel card to journey around in the BRT. "Bilawal Bhutto should come [to Peshawar] now, I will take him on a tour of the BRT, show him our hospitality, and also show him that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has made the BRT for its people," the provincial minister commented.

Later, he threw a jibe at the government of Sindh, saying he hoped the PPP leadership would also send him a travel card for the Green Bus project. Wazir further added that the truth was the Opposition could not digest the completed BRT project.

The much-touted project was set to be completed in June 2021 but "we have done it one year before plan". "The BRT project is ready; as soon as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister [Mahmood Khan] gives the green signal, it will be inaugurated," he added.

In a post on Twitter, the PTI's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter said MPAs Adeel Ahmed and Arsalan Taj Hussain from Karachi travelled in the BRT bus with the minister. It may be recalled that the BRT project in Peshawar was initiated by former chief minister Pervez Khattak during the ruling party's last government, which, despite many projected dates, was not completed and only delayed.

Started back in October 2017, the project was aimed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to complete within six months. Its initial cost was estimated to be Rs49 billion but has so far exceeded Rs71 billion. On December 5, 2019, the Peshawar High Court in a detailed judgment on the BRT project had said the PTI government launched the project without any vision or plan.