Shahbaz Sharif welcomes NAB probe into Metro bus project

Welcome any "fair probe" into the project, says Punjab Chief Minister.

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif tweeted on Monday that he would welcome any "fair probe" into the Metro Bus and Ring Road project by National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

He also said he had already volunteered a review of the the Metro Bus project to Transparency International Pakistan.

NAB recently decided to investigate the Metro Bus and Ring Road cases. NAB officials of the Punjab chapter also confirmed these developments, while talking to The Express Tribune.

The project was completed in the short span of one year. Under the service, 115 metro buses, with a capacity three times that of ordinary buses, will run along a 27km corridor, from Gajju Matta to Shahdra, in Lahore. Twenty-seven metro bus stations will be set-up along the route and under the plan, a bus will be available every three minutes at each station.

The 40-kilometer Northern Loop of the Ring Road, running clockwise from near Gulshan-i-Ravi to near DHA Phase V, is almost complete.

According to the Punjab government, the Metro Bus project cost Rs30 billion. The figure, however, is disputed by the opposition.

Earlier Information and Broadcasting Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has claimed that up to Rs97 billion has been spent on the project.