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KARACHI, April 18: The arrival of the first consignment of 250 buses, out of the 8,000 promised by the city government authorities, has once again hit a delay. It is expected that the consignment, from India, would now be inducted into the cityâs transport fleet by July 2007.
EDO Transport and Communication Mohammad Athar told PPI on Wednesday that a private company had undertaken to bring in the buses by March this year but the delay was caused as the setting up of CNG stations could not materialise and the incentives offered by the federal government were also yet to be finalised. He said that the Sweden Bus Company had inked a deal with the Tata company of India in respect of the 250 CNG buses to be imported in the initial phase. He stated that in the past, the same company had introduced air-conditioned CNG buses in Karachi, but later it wound up its business due to lack of back-up support and provision of spare parts for their buses. This time, their deal with the Indian company includes complete technical back-up and the provision of an assembling plant to be set up in Pakistan.
The EDO said the city government had given two proposals to the federal steering committee concerned about setting up of the CNG stations on the basis of âbuild, operate and transferâ, or allowing the bus companies to have their own CNG stations at their bus depots.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/04/19/local19.htm
The EDO said the governmentâs policy was to promote public-private partnership in the public transport sector. He blamed lack of responsibility, sincerity and dedication for the failure of the defunct Karachi Transport Corporation (KTC). âWe do not want to create another âwhite elephantâ like the KTC, which had been set up with investment of billions of rupees and had to wind it up after borrowing $1.7 billion from the World Bank for golden handshake offered to its employees,â he said.
Meanwhile, sources said that no new bus had been inducted into the Karachi Public Transport Service (KPTS) since 2001. DCO Fazlur Rehman, Chairman of the KPTS, has not called a meeting of its executive and honorary committees for the past three years, they added.âPPI
EDO Transport and Communication Mohammad Athar told PPI on Wednesday that a private company had undertaken to bring in the buses by March this year but the delay was caused as the setting up of CNG stations could not materialise and the incentives offered by the federal government were also yet to be finalised. He said that the Sweden Bus Company had inked a deal with the Tata company of India in respect of the 250 CNG buses to be imported in the initial phase. He stated that in the past, the same company had introduced air-conditioned CNG buses in Karachi, but later it wound up its business due to lack of back-up support and provision of spare parts for their buses. This time, their deal with the Indian company includes complete technical back-up and the provision of an assembling plant to be set up in Pakistan.
The EDO said the city government had given two proposals to the federal steering committee concerned about setting up of the CNG stations on the basis of âbuild, operate and transferâ, or allowing the bus companies to have their own CNG stations at their bus depots.
http://www.dawn.com/2007/04/19/local19.htm
The EDO said the governmentâs policy was to promote public-private partnership in the public transport sector. He blamed lack of responsibility, sincerity and dedication for the failure of the defunct Karachi Transport Corporation (KTC). âWe do not want to create another âwhite elephantâ like the KTC, which had been set up with investment of billions of rupees and had to wind it up after borrowing $1.7 billion from the World Bank for golden handshake offered to its employees,â he said.
Meanwhile, sources said that no new bus had been inducted into the Karachi Public Transport Service (KPTS) since 2001. DCO Fazlur Rehman, Chairman of the KPTS, has not called a meeting of its executive and honorary committees for the past three years, they added.âPPI
