Misplaced priorities : BRT closure on the horizon

The caretaker government has said that K-P’s coffers are nearly empty

PESHAWAR:

After the financial troubles of the Sehat Card, another flagship Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) project — the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is facing similar funding concerns, which will come as a blow to the hundreds of thousands of passengers that use the service daily.

More than 300,000 passengers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) capital use the BRT daily to get around the city, and if the requisite operational costs of the BRT are not paid by the incumbent caretaker government, the popular public bus service runs the risk of closing down.

The BRT authorities in a letter penned to the caretaker cabinet of the province have demanded that the government should pay three months of operational costs worth Rs 450 million immediately, otherwise the service would be shut down for the foreseeable future. The letter, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, further states that as per the agreement with Trans Peshawar, the Governor of K-P is bound to release payment against monthly invoice within 10 days of each month but the Governor has not done so for February, March, and April. Furthermore, the authorities have met with several K-P government officials in this regard but the government has seemingly not budged, as per the letter.

While it remains to be seen when the dues will be paid or whether they will be paid at all, the potential closure of the BRT has sent shockwaves through regular commuters. “I use the bus service daily to travel to university as it is cheap and comfortable. Moving around the city without BRT seems impossible now,” said Saeed Khan, a student based in the city.

“Everything was well under the PTI government, now all of a sudden the province does not have any money. This seems very suspicious,” he added.

Another regular commuter, Samia Arbab, concurring with Khan’s suspicions, said that any shutdown of the BRT would be a blow to the populace of the city. “BRT is the most affordable commute option in the city, the government should arrange for its finances rather than closing it down,” Arbab implored.

When asked about the potential closure, the caretaker Minister for Information, Barrister Feroze Jamal Kakakhel, replied that news regarding the BRT being shut down were mere rumours. “No project of the previous government has been shut down, nor will any be shut down,” Kakahel asserted. When asked about the pending operational dues, the caretaker minister said that payments were indeed an issue due to the PTI stacking up debt in the province but that did not mean projects would be discontinued.

However, in stark contrast to the minister’s views, an official of the BRT, under the condition of anonymity, confided to the Express Tribune that the government had money to clear the BRT’s dues but was reluctant to pay. “The finance department can pay our operational bills immediately if it wants but the caretaker government is discouraging payments for any of the PTI government’s projects,” the official alleged while talking to The Express Tribune.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2023.