The Lahore Parking Company (LPC) signed a memorandum of understanding with the city district government on Monday to take over four of the 354 parking stands in the provincial capital.
District Coordination Officer Noorul Amin Mengal and LPC Chairman Mian Nauman, an MPA, signed the agreement in a ceremony at the Town Hall. The LPC is to take over parking stands at Liberty, Allama Iqbal Town’s Moon Market, Barkat Market and Hafeez Centre over the next three weeks.
DCO Mengal said that the company was taking over the four stands in its opening phase so it could test a model for future parking stands. He said once the company was established at the four locations, it would take over other parking stands too.
He said that four Turkish experts were currently doing an important survey of parking in the city, particularly the four stands to be taken over in the first phase. He said that there was a potential revenue of Rs1 billion a year to be made from parking in Lahore. “Improving the system is important not only for traffic, but also for revenue generation,” he said.
Teething problems
The LPC has suffered several initial setbacks. It is currently without a managing director. Additional Commissioner Usman Ali Khan had been nominated to the post, but he was later posted DCO of Nankana Sahib.
Sources said that Khan had been demanding more pay and he had taken over the job before his notification, which had displeased high-ups. Khan refused to comment on the matter to The Tribune, except to say that the managing director should be someone with technical expertise.
When initially selected as managing director, Khan had proposed that the company take over 50 parking stands in the first phase with a budget of Rs200 million. Those plans have been scaled back.
Officials suggested that Lahore Transport Company General Manager Uzair Shah, who is currently on deputation with the Bus Rapid Transit System Authority, was a candidate for the role. However, Shah told The Tribune that he would not consider the position as long as he was working on the BRTS. “After its completion I might consider it,” he said.
The District Office of Public Facilities (DOPF) will continue managing the other 350 parking stands in Lahore, of which 180 are operational, according to DOPF records. The parking company will not be taking over stands and parking plazas managed by the Parks and Horticulture Authority or the Lahore Development Authority, since its agreement is only with the city government.
Local traffic and parking experts who attended meetings regarding the government’s plans to solve the city’s parking issues were critical of the pace of the project. They said that the Turkish experts doing the survey were needlessly repeating work already done by local officials.
They said that the LPC should also have taken on some of the hard-to-manage parking stands in the city first, like those at Naqi Market, Shah Alam Market and Abid Market.
The LPC has been registered as a for-profit company under Section 32 of the Companies Ordinance. Its shares have been bought by the city government for Rs10 million, meaning that would be the budget for the company. Officials indicated that they had expected much more seed money, with informal requests moved to the DOPF and executive district officer for municipal services to seek funding of Rs50 million.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2012.
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