Metro subsidy-sharing row: CDA chief punished for stance

Afzal recently sought PM’s endorsement first, instead of signing agreement.

ISLAMABAD: A controversy between the Punjab and the federal governments over subsidy sharing of the metro bus service has landed the city’s civic agency chief in hot water.

Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairperson Maroof Afzal has been resisting to sign the subsidy-sharing formula on behalf of the federal government.

The civic agency chief has been sent on a month’s leave for refusing to sign the agreement despite repeated requests from the federal and Punjab governments for the last nine months, according to a source privy to the development, requesting not to be named.

Afzal had written a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, seeking his endorsement to the controversial formula for the twin cities’ metro bus service.

According to the letter written on May 11, Afzal informed Sharif that the prime minister after consultation with the ministries of finance and planning and development as well as the Punjab Government had approved the formula of equal sharing.

“[This formula was calculated] irrespective of distance, ridership and number of stations as conveyed by the Cabinet Division in May 2015,” the letter says.

Afzal, later on, wrote that the Punjab had sought revision of the formula, as it was likely to saddle the provincial government with the extra financial strain to sustain the bus service operations in the federal capital.

Punjab had said that subsidy should be divided on the basis of length of track and number of stations in Rawalpindi and Islamabad and not on the basis of equal sharing.

Under the proposed arrangement -- which is contrary to the already settled formula — the federal government had been asked to foot Rs1.52 billion out of the total Rs2.5 billion subsidy for the first financial year. Under this formula, the share of the revenue of the federal government from the sale of tickets will be lesser than that of the Punjab.

The CDA is of the opinion that the Punjab government proposal cannot override the decision taken by the prime minister in consultation with all the stakeholders, the letter says.

Afzal has further contended that on March 31, 2016, a meeting was held between the federal and the Punjab finance ministers over the issue where the contention of the province was discussed.

“Now the finance division has conveyed that the Federal Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, has agreed to the demand of the Punjab government regarding sharing of subsidy,” the letter reads.

Before the CDA proceeded for execution of the agreement and transfer of the subsidy share to the Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA), the matter was placed before the prime minister for approval, the letter reads.

After the meeting of the federal and Punjab finance ministers, a copy of the agreement was sent three weeks ago to the CDA chairperson’s office but once again he refused to sign it and sent the matter to the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD).

On the other hand, the federal government has released funds under the subsidy head but due to the controversy, they are yet to be released to the PMTA.

Under the given situation, a source claimed, the CDA chairperson has been asked to take leave so that the matter could be resolved in his absence.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2016.