Old transport projects announced once again in the budget
Many schemes have been included in budget books for years
A public bus on the roads of Karachi. PHOTO: PPI
KARACHI:
Many transport projects in the province, which have been only on paper for several years without having seen the light of day, were again announced in the budget on Monday while some of the projects announced in previous budget with no progress were removed.
The Sindh government has allocated Rs3.19 billion for transport projects in the 2017-18 budget. The same amount was allocated last year.
Projects that have been lingering on paper without any progress include the rehabilitation of Drivers Training School under public-private partnership mode in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana, and the intercity bus project for the province, which has been on paper for the last 10 years.
The provincial government is dutifully reflecting these schemes in the provincial budget - some with different names - but has no work to show on the ground. Initially the rehabilitation of the Drivers Training School was reflected in the budget of fiscal year 2009-10. Since then, it has become a regular feature in Sindh’s budgets.
Sindh police likely to get major chunk of provincial budget yet again
The Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Diesel Buses programme is a project that was finally dropped from the budget, as it failed to materialise after several years. It was featured in four consecutive provincial budgets. It first appeared in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) of 2011-12 and then made several reappearances till the ADP of 2014-15. In the 2015-16 fiscal year, the Sindh government completely wiped this project out of the books without offering any explanation. Instead, the Larkana Intercity Project, including 25 diesel buses, was mentioned in the 2015-16 ADP, as an unapproved project. The government had earmarked Rs100 million for 50 diesel buses for the project and set a target date of June 2016, subject to approval. In the ADP of 2016-17, its completion date was extended till June, 2017 and Rs250 million was allocated for it.
Last year, the '60 Intercity Bus Project' for Karachi was also announced in the budget as an unapproved project. If approved, it had to be completed by June, 2017 at a cost of Rs150 milllion. Moreover, in his speech last year, then finance minister and current chief minister Murad Ali Shah also announced the induction of 200 buses for intercity with an allocation of Rs500 million. However, the actual ADP document for the year failed to mention any such allocation.
Zero progress
There has been no progress in the aforementioned programmes, most of which have again been mentioned in this year's ADP. For the rehabilitation of Drivers Training School, an official of the transport department, requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune that the Motorway Police showed its interest in the project few years back and submitted a proposal, which the Sindh government rejected. Since then, the project has been abandoned. The school’s building exists in SITE area, the official said.
Sindh budget to be presented on June 5
The Larkana Intercity Bus Project of 25 diesel buses has been featured for the third time in the ADP - this time as an approved project with June, 2018 as the target date of completion - at a cost of Rs197 million.
While the '60 Intercity Bus Project' for Karachi was dropped in this year's budget, the CM in his budget speech announced to initiate a 'Transport Leasing Project' costing Rs2 billion. "The project aims to provide locally-assembled passenger buses to existing transporters through Sindh Modaraba," he said. In March, Shah had announced a fleet of 600 vehicles in the city to meet the growing requirement of passenger buses by offering five-year loans through Sindh Modaraba Management Limited (SMML). The financial model, however, was rejected by the Karachi Transport Ittehad.
Mass Transit projects
In 2017-18 the Sindh government has reflected as many as three bus rapid transit (BRT) lines in the budget, none of which are going to be completed in the coming fiscal year.
Focus on sindh: PM to address Jacobabad rally on April 14
In 2016-17 the Sindh government divided the Red Line BRT into two components. The construction of the Red Line was expected to be completed by June, 2018, while the detailed designing through the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was targeted to be completed by June, 2017. This year, the design component has a target date of completion of June, 2018 while the construction component has the target date of completion of June, 2020.
Shah also announced that an ‘integrated intelligent ticketing system' will be outsourced through public-private partnership for the Green Line BRT operation and fare collection. According to Shah, the Orange Line BRT will be completed by September, 2017 while the Yellow Line BRT is a rolled-out project for which the China Urban Import and Export Corporation has secured the bid. "Hopefully work will commence on the 26 kilometre line," he said.
In the current ADP, the cost of the Blue Line BRT's infrastructure will be borne by the Sindh government in segment one and segment two, which will cost Rs7.74 billion and Rs5.16 billion respectively.
Budget 2017-18: CCB proposes Rs1.3b balanced budget
In his budget speech, Shah expressed gratitude to the Peoples Republic of China for supporting the Sindh government in the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project. The KCR has finally been reflected in this year's ADP. The government has earmarked Rs241 million for the construction of a boundary fencing along the existing alignment of KCR as an 'unapproved project' with a completion date of June, 2020.
Many transport projects in the province, which have been only on paper for several years without having seen the light of day, were again announced in the budget on Monday while some of the projects announced in previous budget with no progress were removed.
The Sindh government has allocated Rs3.19 billion for transport projects in the 2017-18 budget. The same amount was allocated last year.
Projects that have been lingering on paper without any progress include the rehabilitation of Drivers Training School under public-private partnership mode in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana, and the intercity bus project for the province, which has been on paper for the last 10 years.
The provincial government is dutifully reflecting these schemes in the provincial budget - some with different names - but has no work to show on the ground. Initially the rehabilitation of the Drivers Training School was reflected in the budget of fiscal year 2009-10. Since then, it has become a regular feature in Sindh’s budgets.
Sindh police likely to get major chunk of provincial budget yet again
The Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Diesel Buses programme is a project that was finally dropped from the budget, as it failed to materialise after several years. It was featured in four consecutive provincial budgets. It first appeared in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) of 2011-12 and then made several reappearances till the ADP of 2014-15. In the 2015-16 fiscal year, the Sindh government completely wiped this project out of the books without offering any explanation. Instead, the Larkana Intercity Project, including 25 diesel buses, was mentioned in the 2015-16 ADP, as an unapproved project. The government had earmarked Rs100 million for 50 diesel buses for the project and set a target date of June 2016, subject to approval. In the ADP of 2016-17, its completion date was extended till June, 2017 and Rs250 million was allocated for it.
Last year, the '60 Intercity Bus Project' for Karachi was also announced in the budget as an unapproved project. If approved, it had to be completed by June, 2017 at a cost of Rs150 milllion. Moreover, in his speech last year, then finance minister and current chief minister Murad Ali Shah also announced the induction of 200 buses for intercity with an allocation of Rs500 million. However, the actual ADP document for the year failed to mention any such allocation.
Zero progress
There has been no progress in the aforementioned programmes, most of which have again been mentioned in this year's ADP. For the rehabilitation of Drivers Training School, an official of the transport department, requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune that the Motorway Police showed its interest in the project few years back and submitted a proposal, which the Sindh government rejected. Since then, the project has been abandoned. The school’s building exists in SITE area, the official said.
Sindh budget to be presented on June 5
The Larkana Intercity Bus Project of 25 diesel buses has been featured for the third time in the ADP - this time as an approved project with June, 2018 as the target date of completion - at a cost of Rs197 million.
While the '60 Intercity Bus Project' for Karachi was dropped in this year's budget, the CM in his budget speech announced to initiate a 'Transport Leasing Project' costing Rs2 billion. "The project aims to provide locally-assembled passenger buses to existing transporters through Sindh Modaraba," he said. In March, Shah had announced a fleet of 600 vehicles in the city to meet the growing requirement of passenger buses by offering five-year loans through Sindh Modaraba Management Limited (SMML). The financial model, however, was rejected by the Karachi Transport Ittehad.
Mass Transit projects
In 2017-18 the Sindh government has reflected as many as three bus rapid transit (BRT) lines in the budget, none of which are going to be completed in the coming fiscal year.
Focus on sindh: PM to address Jacobabad rally on April 14
In 2016-17 the Sindh government divided the Red Line BRT into two components. The construction of the Red Line was expected to be completed by June, 2018, while the detailed designing through the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was targeted to be completed by June, 2017. This year, the design component has a target date of completion of June, 2018 while the construction component has the target date of completion of June, 2020.
Shah also announced that an ‘integrated intelligent ticketing system' will be outsourced through public-private partnership for the Green Line BRT operation and fare collection. According to Shah, the Orange Line BRT will be completed by September, 2017 while the Yellow Line BRT is a rolled-out project for which the China Urban Import and Export Corporation has secured the bid. "Hopefully work will commence on the 26 kilometre line," he said.
In the current ADP, the cost of the Blue Line BRT's infrastructure will be borne by the Sindh government in segment one and segment two, which will cost Rs7.74 billion and Rs5.16 billion respectively.
Budget 2017-18: CCB proposes Rs1.3b balanced budget
In his budget speech, Shah expressed gratitude to the Peoples Republic of China for supporting the Sindh government in the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project. The KCR has finally been reflected in this year's ADP. The government has earmarked Rs241 million for the construction of a boundary fencing along the existing alignment of KCR as an 'unapproved project' with a completion date of June, 2020.