Metro train to incur Rs16 billion annual loss: Pervaiz Elahi

Says Orange Line plan worse than Nandipur project

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Q senior central leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has termed Orange Line project bigger than Nandipur Power Project for making dollars and said the company to which its contract has been given has no such experience, they sell only arms.

He said while addressing a press conference along with MNA Tariq Bashir Cheema at his residence here Sunday. According to a press release, former CM Punjab said this was an anti-employment and anti-environment project which entailed Rs16 billion annual deficit and heavy loan would put future generations also in chain of debt, while historical beauty of Lahore City would vanish. He said our four lines 97 kilometres long underground train profit yielding and subsidy-free project, which was to benefit every area, was scrapped by Shahbaz Sharif and wrote a letter to the Asian Development Bank that we do not need this loan. He also provided copies of this letter to the journalists.

Ch Pervaiz Elahi said no building, house or shop would have been demolished by our project and rather construction of underground commercial centre would have created employment opportunities for thousands of people.

Responding to a question, he said that fate of this project would be even worse than the Nandipur project and Orange Line would reach nowhere on the track of corruption. He said that Shahbaz Sharif had put the province under heavy debt of Rs1,000 billion, whereas we had left Rs100 billion surplus, we had awarded Mass Transit project contract to Systra Company which had completed Eurotunnel and Shanghai Metro Train Projects.

Terming Orange Line train as another big burden of a white elephant after jangla bus on the economy of Punjab, he said that its real cost was also kept secret whereas our project as compared to this project was completely free, mark-up on the loan was only 0. 25 percent with 10 years grace period as compared to their 3 percent mark-up, whereas it was such a profitable project that after 10 years loan could be repaid lump sum, ticket was only Rs25 and train would have come after every two to five minutes, in our project firstly Green Line was to be constructed and then Orange Line, whereas starting Orange Line ahead of Green Line was like putting the cart before the horse, our project would have added not only to the historical beauty of Lahore but also provided cheap and comfortable transport in every area of the city.

He said that people had never objected to any of our projects because we always consulted segments concerned and civil society before starting.