In the backdrop of Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurating the Peshawar bus rapid transit (BRT) system on Thursday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's parliamentary leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh called for similar projects in various cities of Sindh.
Addressing a press conference, he said, "Why are citizens of Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur deprived of BRT [systems]? They, too, deserve these modern means of transport."
Comparing the condition of Sindh's transport infrastructure with that of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Sheikh remarked, "A BRT [system], with feeder routes extending across 62 kilometres (km), saw completion in Peshawar in two years and in Sindh, the Pakistan Peoples Party-led provincial government has not even been able to introduce 12 new buses in as many years."
Sheikh went on, "The Sindh government has claimed to bring thousands of buses on the roads, but not a single new bus is running in Karachi." He further pointed out that the 3.9km Orange Line project had also been facing delays in Sindh for the past five years.
"Where Peshawar's people travel via BRT, those in Karachi travel on the rooftops of decrepit minibuses," he added. "It appears that Sindh's authorities are not willing to initiate a good transport system in Karachi."
Speaking with regards to the Ehsaas Nashonuma Programme, he announced that six of the programme's centres would initially be opened in Badin and the anti-stunting project would later be extended to other districts of Sindh.
Moreover, dispelling reports of the federal government making moves to take over the control of Sindh, he said that the allegations were being levelled against the Centre to misguide people.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 14th, 2020.
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