‘KCR pending approval from all forums’

Sindh transport minister, JI dub inauguration of long-awaited project ‘distasteful joke’

KARACHI:

Reacting to Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to Karachi to inaugurate the Karachi Circular Railway on Monday, Sindh Transport Minister Awais Qadir Shah claimed that neither has the project been approved by any forum nor has a consultant been hired as yet.

In a statement issued on the day, the transport minister maintained that the KCR survey may take up to two years. The current infrastructure is not for the KCR and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government in the Centre is simply defrauding the people of Karachi, claimed the minister. "These structures will not work when the new KCR is created."

Read KCR ‘already running into losses’

He claimed that Rs20 billion would be wasted in KCR's name. When the mega project has not been approved by any relevant forum, including the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), then what is the foundation stone for, asked the minister. "They are going to pin the horse's tail but where is the horse?"

In a separate statement, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Hafiz Naeemur Rehman made similar comments and termed the inauguration of KCR a 'distasteful joke' on the people of Karachi. He implored the premier to instead reveal the progress on packages announced by the Centre for the metropolis.

Rehman said that the PM inaugurated on Monday a project which was inaugurated one and a half years ago.

Karachiites want to know what became of the Rs1,100 billion package announced by the premier earlier, said Rehman, adding that citizens had the right to know about the progress made on projects announced under the Karachi Transformation Plan.

The premier believes the cleaning of a few drains is enough to deem the Karachi Transformation Plan successful and complete, which is far from the ground realities, added Rehman.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2021.