Karachi:
The controversy on the steep suspension of the Green Line project has further deepened while the federal government has moved away from responsibility, saying: “The case is between the mayor of Karachi and the entrepreneur.”
Clarifying, the spokesperson for the federal government, Barister Raja Ansari, said that the question arose from the objections raised by the mayor of Karachi on the certificate of non-objection of the entrepreneur (NOC).
He noted that the center has remained determined to provide transport facilities to the inhabitants of Karachi and had already published funds for the project.
Federal and Sindh governments are in contact concerning the project of several billion dollars, said Ansari, adding coordination with the local government and the mayor of Karachi is not under the center.
He said: “The federal government, in cooperation with the Sindh government, had accelerated work on the extension of the green line”, adding: “The construction of Nunish to Jama Cloth progressed well.”
The spokesman added that he had personally inspected the project a few days ago and called on the mayor to clarify the nature of his objections.
The mayor of Karachi stops the RS30B green line project
Earleir this week, the work on the Phase II Corridor project Green Line – from Guru Mandir to the municipal park – stopped due to a dispute between Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and Pakistan Infrastructure Development Company Limited (PIDCL), a federal government entity.
The disagreement led the mayor of Karachi Murtaza Wahab to order the suspension of current development work, citing procedural violations.
KMC arrested the project funded by the federal government, estimated at 30 billion rupees, on the grounds that Pidcl had not obtained a certificate of non-objection (NOC) of the municipal authorities before starting the work.
The project, a key infrastructure initiative as part of the Karachi development plan of the federal government, is considered essential to mitigate urban mobility in the city.
However, PIDCL officials strongly disputed the KMC action, declaring that the required night had already been obtained before the start of the project. They argued that the cessation of a project sanctioned by the federal government without notice and on the basis of verbal orders was unacceptable and counterproductive.
According to Pidcl, if the mayor or the kmc had reservations, they should have officially communicated through a letter requesting the production of the NOC, which the agency would have easily provided.
PIDCL also claimed to be in possession of a CNO published on October 12, 2017, signing the superintendent engineer of the KMC engineering department (I & QC). The agency expressed strong dissatisfaction with regard to the suspension of the work.
Meanwhile, KMC officials argued that no valid NOC had been issued for the second phase of the Green Line project, and the decision to stop construction was taken on the explicit instructions of Mayor Murtaza Wahab.
The case would have increased to a point where a meeting is expected between Mayor Wahab and senior PIDCL officials, including CEO Waseem Bajwa and Director General Shafi Chhachhar, to resolve the dead end.
After the intervention of KMC, the site entrepreneur ceased the operations and withdrew the staff and the equipment until further notice.
