Govt needs to look into the problem and resolve it as citizens desperately need more transport options in Karachi.
KARACHI: Recently, a news channel aired a report on public transport. It highlighted the CNG bus project (consisting of 75 buses), which was started by Mustafa Kamal, and how only 25 of them are functioning while the remaining 50 are useless. But what this report failed to mention was the buses that were previously inaugurated by Naimatullah Khan, including 32 buses of the Sweden Bus Company, 28 buses of the Green Bus Company and several other buses which are not in use.
The problem is that because these buses have been unused and dysfunctional for quite a few years now, their condition has deteriorated and they are no more in a usable condition. Therefore, the investment made on them was completely wasted. These buses were absent due to some complications with an unpaid bank loan, but it should have been sorted way back. It is about time that this serious issue was brought to the attention of the government since a majority of our population depends on public transport daily. So, we just cannot afford such losses; with the population of Karachi increasing gradually, the public needs more buses.
Karachi is a large city and in dire need of an excellent transport system, but due to interference from the powerful transport mafia, most of the buses are rotting on stands. The government needs to look into the problem and resolve it as the citizens desperately need more transport options in Karachi. Even though we have not seen much improvement in anything since the PML-N took over last year, we as citizens need to keep trying and pushing for a better Pakistan.
Ghazanfar Ali Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2014.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
