Fixing glitches: LPC mulls new duo to take over parking lots
Chinese company slated to replace German firm in joint venture.
This was decided at the sixth meeting of the LPC’s board of directors presided by Company chairman Hafiz Mian Numan on Friday.
LAHORE:
The Board of Directors of the Lahore Parking Company (LPC) has formally granted it permission to replace Green Park (a German company) for a joint venture with the Saudi Advanced Global Communication Networks (AGCN) to modernise existing parking lots in the city.
This was decided at the sixth meeting of the LPC’s board of directors presided by Company chairman Hafiz Mian Numan on Friday. Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation from China has been invited to give a presentation to the LPC in this regard in the coming week. The company has also invited a delegation of the LPC to China to observe their operations.
On February 6, the AGCN and Green Park signed an agreement with the LPC to take over more than 240 parking lots in the city. Soon after this, Green Park expressed concerns over the project’s financial viability. A month ago, Green Park informed the LPC of its intention to pull out of the joint venture with the AGCN.
In the venture, the AGCN was the principle bidder with the financial expertise while Green Park had the technical expertise required to win the bid for the project.
Under the Agreement for the Operations and Management of Parking Facilities in City District Lahore, the parking sites in the city were to be handed over to the companies for a period of seven years. The agreement was jeopardised when Green Park decided to pull out of the venture. Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation has expressed interest in replacing the German company in the venture. The AGCN has informed the LPC about the current status of the joint venture and has requested that ZTE be replaced as a new partner.
The joint venture is set to take over parking sites in 18 months in two phases. Under the agreement, the companies were supposed to take over 66 parking sites in six months in the first phase of the project but not a single parking site has been taken over yet.
LPC officials have said that the AGCN will take over parking sites from July 1 but the LPC will have to ratify the new joint venture first.
They said Green Park had raised concerns about flat parking rates and had proposed to introduce time- and congestion-based rates.
Under the agreement, 45.4 per cent of the revenue generated by the joint venture will be given to the Lahore Parking Company. The percentage of revenue will be shared with the LPC on a weekly basis. The LPC will in turn 75 per cent of the revenue it receives to the district government on a quarterly basis.
The LPC hopes to generate around Rs9.3 billion in seven years through the venture. The projected amount was determined in a study conducted by the LPC and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2010. The study suggested an hourly increase in parking rates and congestion charges.
LPC Manager Fasihud Din said that they were hopeful that the Chinese company would partner with the AGCN. He said the LPC is yet to verify the technical expertise of the company. He said the ZTE had 15 years of experience, which was more than that of Green Park.
He said in China, the ZTE was operating roadside parking lots through hand-held devices and had established parking lots with controlled entrances with state-of-the-art equipment similar to what was planned for Lahore.
He said the change will be ratified next month.
He said since the AGCN was the principle bidder for ther project, as long as the new company had the same or better expertise than the one before it, the agreement would not be affected.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2014.
The Board of Directors of the Lahore Parking Company (LPC) has formally granted it permission to replace Green Park (a German company) for a joint venture with the Saudi Advanced Global Communication Networks (AGCN) to modernise existing parking lots in the city.
This was decided at the sixth meeting of the LPC’s board of directors presided by Company chairman Hafiz Mian Numan on Friday. Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation from China has been invited to give a presentation to the LPC in this regard in the coming week. The company has also invited a delegation of the LPC to China to observe their operations.
On February 6, the AGCN and Green Park signed an agreement with the LPC to take over more than 240 parking lots in the city. Soon after this, Green Park expressed concerns over the project’s financial viability. A month ago, Green Park informed the LPC of its intention to pull out of the joint venture with the AGCN.
In the venture, the AGCN was the principle bidder with the financial expertise while Green Park had the technical expertise required to win the bid for the project.
Under the Agreement for the Operations and Management of Parking Facilities in City District Lahore, the parking sites in the city were to be handed over to the companies for a period of seven years. The agreement was jeopardised when Green Park decided to pull out of the venture. Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation has expressed interest in replacing the German company in the venture. The AGCN has informed the LPC about the current status of the joint venture and has requested that ZTE be replaced as a new partner.
The joint venture is set to take over parking sites in 18 months in two phases. Under the agreement, the companies were supposed to take over 66 parking sites in six months in the first phase of the project but not a single parking site has been taken over yet.
LPC officials have said that the AGCN will take over parking sites from July 1 but the LPC will have to ratify the new joint venture first.
They said Green Park had raised concerns about flat parking rates and had proposed to introduce time- and congestion-based rates.
Under the agreement, 45.4 per cent of the revenue generated by the joint venture will be given to the Lahore Parking Company. The percentage of revenue will be shared with the LPC on a weekly basis. The LPC will in turn 75 per cent of the revenue it receives to the district government on a quarterly basis.
The LPC hopes to generate around Rs9.3 billion in seven years through the venture. The projected amount was determined in a study conducted by the LPC and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2010. The study suggested an hourly increase in parking rates and congestion charges.
LPC Manager Fasihud Din said that they were hopeful that the Chinese company would partner with the AGCN. He said the LPC is yet to verify the technical expertise of the company. He said the ZTE had 15 years of experience, which was more than that of Green Park.
He said in China, the ZTE was operating roadside parking lots through hand-held devices and had established parking lots with controlled entrances with state-of-the-art equipment similar to what was planned for Lahore.
He said the change will be ratified next month.
He said since the AGCN was the principle bidder for ther project, as long as the new company had the same or better expertise than the one before it, the agreement would not be affected.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 25th, 2014.