KP minister for manpower Shaukat Yousufzai has claimed that BRT project has been fully completed and it will be started at any time.
In a statement issued by him Thursday, he said Chief Minister KP has been given a briefing on all the matters related to the accomplishment of this project.
He held when everything has been affected in the world due to coronavirus epidemic. BRT project has also been affected. Had the coronavirus not hit the country, this project would have been started.
He pointed out all the stations of BRT are complete in all respects and testing work has been started. As many as 350000 people will enjoy travelling facilities daily by BRT.
They have been in power for7 years in kpk see the one project they launched the BRT it's in shambles a project of 30 billion has crossed 1trillion and is massively flawed and inoperable even today missing its 10th deadline date,people now are not naive anymore
— Maleeha Khawaja (@maleehaomarkh) June 29, 2020
Special assistant to the chief minister for local government Kamran Khan Bangasha a few months ago said that the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT), Peshawar project would finish by the end of the current fiscal in June.
Kamran Bangash, who also oversees the BRT Project closely and projects under Peshawar Development Authority (PDA), said he has always been saying that the project would be completed by the end of June 2020.
Furthermore, he claimed that most of the work on the project had been completed and that it had been handed over to the TransPeshawar for the installation of intelligent transport system (ITS).
Read more: KP Metro corruption scandal – pointing to PTI?
TransPeshawar-a government-owned company- is responsible for operating the Peshawar BRT service after the project’s completion.
Why BRT Peshawar was delayed and cost increased
The much-delayed bus project has seen several changes of the project deadline, causing political embarrassment and public pressure to the ruling PTI.
The bus project, launched in Oct 2017, was initially to be completed in April 2018. However, the first deadline was missed.
After that the project managers kept changing the launch dates from May 20 to June 30 to Dec 31 in 2018 and March 23, 2019, while the project cost jumped to Rs66.43 billion from the initial Rs49 billion due to the frequent retrofitting and design changes.
Peshawar BRT will revolutionise transport system in Peshawar, it got delayed as we extended coverage of it, baseless rumours being spread regarding increase in its cost which is totally false. Peshawar BRT construction led to improving the gas system in Peshawar :: @Jhagra pic.twitter.com/y3xyw5WLKk
— PTI (@PTIofficial) January 26, 2019
Earlier last month, the project managers again decided to revise the project PC-1 to account for Rs4.2 billion cost overrun after which the project cost would jump up to over Rs 70.7 billion.
In Nov 2018, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council had project’s revised cost of Rs66.43 billion stipulating the June 2019 to be project completion month, while the provincial government had requested the forum to allow the revision of cost for the soft opening of the project then scheduled for March last year.
However, the KP government informed the apex court earlier in February that the project would be completed by the end of the July.
Peshawar BRT: SC bars FIA from probing project
Last month the Supreme Court (SC) ruled for examining the transparency of Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit Project (BRT) as well as the process whereby the contract for the construction of this mega project was awarded.
Read more: BRT Peshawar: PPP files complaint to NAB
A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the appeals filed by the government of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa as well as Peshawar Development Authority (PDA), challenging the order, passed by Peshawar High Court (PHC) directing the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to conduct an inquiry into different aspects of the BRT Project.
The court maintained its interim order for the third time, halting the investigation being conducted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in the alleged irregularities in the instant project.
Online Int’l News with additional input by GVS News Desk