Orange line metro: Govt waives customs duty on imports

OLMT steering committee chairman says move will help timely completion

LAHORE: The federal government has waived off customs duty on all imports related to the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project.

The OLMT Steering Committee Chairman Khawaja Ahamad Hassaan, while addressing the weekly progress review meeting on Wednesday, said a customs duty waiver would help the timely completion of the project.

He said civil works on package-1 (from Chaburji to Dera Gujjran) were being executed round- the-clock and construction of all the 13 elevated stations along this section had initiated alongside the assembly of the track. Orders for import of frameworks for pre-casting U-Tub girders and transoms had been placed, he added.

Meeting participants were informed that 59% of civil work on the metro train had been completed. They were told that progress on package-I had reached 74% and on package-2 (from Chaburji to Ali Town) it was 44%.

Meanwhile, the depot near Dera Gujran was 60.3% complete and the progress on the stabling yard near Ali Town was 57.5%.

Meeting participants were further told 15 million cubic feet of additional gas was being supplied to the Lahore region compared to the previous year. It was stated that in 2017, 30 emergency teams were functioning 24 hours a day to address complaints over gas supply.

Work to lay a 17,300-metere long new line in various localities kicked off and would be completed at a cost of Rs13 million within a month.

MPA Chaudhary Shahbaz Ahmad; deputy mayors Mian Muhammad Tariq and Ijaz Hafeez CM Secretariat Secretary Infrastructure Khawaja Imran Raza, DIG Traffic Captain (rted) Ahmad Mubeen, LDA Chief Engineer Asrar Saeed, TEPA Chief Engineer Saifur Rehman, NESPAK General Manager Salman Hafeez, senior officials of the Punjab Mass transit Authority, LESCO, PTCL, sui gas, traffic police, civil defence, Rescue 1122 and railways were present.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2017.