BRT project: CDA attributes funding delays to Cabinet Division’s intervention

ADB confirms US$250,000 of total cost will be released by the end of June.


Danish Hussain May 06, 2013
The ADB said funds had also been stalled because the fiscal year 2012-13 had ended. PHOTO: FILE.

ISLAMABAD:


The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has informed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) that it will be delaying the release of funds allocated for a city-based project because of imminent elections in the country.


In its latest correspondence with the CDA last week, the ADB had stated that funding for a detailed feasibility study of the Rs7.5 billion Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project for Islamabad would be held back until after a smooth transition of power to the new elected government.

The ADB said funds had also been stalled because the fiscal year 2012-13 had ended.

The letter, made available to The Express Tribune, confirmed that US$250,000 of the total cost of US$800,000 for the project would be released by the end of June this year.

The ADB — which has indicated its willingness to provide a loan of up to 80 per cent of the project’s total cost — completed a pre-feasibility study in November 2012. The project was deemed feasible within the existing road infrastructure. The study estimated that 42,000 commuters travelled within Islamabad daily and suggested that 48 multi-fuel buses be inducted in the first phase of the project, running across five different routes.

A senior CDA officer blamed the delay on the Cabinet Division’s unnecessary meddling in the civic body’s affairs.



The Cabinet Division in February had objected to the CDA’s decision to conduct the study, arguing that the CDA Ordinance 1960 did not permit projects that were run on a joint venture basis.

The objection was raised at a time when the CDA was in the process of establishing a BRT Cell in its premises based on conditions outlined by the ADB.

The ADB had actually conducted the pre-feasibility study at no charge to the CDA, and had planned to do the same for the detailed study.

It took the civic body around two months to inform the Cabinet Division that the ordinance did not prohibit joint ventures with private firms.

A CDA board member termed the Cabinet Division’s intervention as premature and a deliberate attempt to disrupt the project at its primary stage.

“It is the sole reason why the ADB has had to delay the project’s funding till fiscal year 2013-14,” said the official.

CDA Planning and Design Member Mustafain Kazmi said the ADB had approved the required funds for the detailed feasibility study, which would be released at the start of the coming fiscal year.

“The CDA Board has already approved the project following pre-feasibility study which was deemed as successful,” said Kazmi, who is also overseeing the BRT Cell’s affairs.

He said the ADB had suggested the implementation of a five-year and 10-year financial plan.

However, he said the decision as to whether the project would be initiated on a self-financing or joint-venture basis would be taken after the detailed study has been completed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2013.

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