KARACHI: Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon on Wednesday expressed hope that the main corridor of the Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on Karachi’s University Road would be completed by March.
“Our effort is to complete the main corridor on University Road — where there is heavy public movement and where citizens face difficulties — by March,” said the senior minister while speaking to the media in the metropolis.
“The remaining BRT work will continue, including bridges, underpasses, and U-turns,” he added.
He further said the condition of the main thoroughfare and its adjoining routes is now “far better than before”.
“Wherever the roads appear damaged, it is only because development work is currently under way,” he added.
Referring to the lack of construction activity, he maintained that the provincial government was not at fault, as there were “some serious issues at the national level”, adding that with an increase in the exchange rate, the project’s cost ballooned.
He added that the Sindh Transport Department will soon commence work on the Yellow Line BRT project. “People are currently facing difficulties, and they will face more difficulties [after the work commences]. We know this, and we apologise to the citizens.”
The provincial minister said that the Sindh government was answerable to the people on every platform and could be questioned on the matter.
“As I said, people will face difficulties, for instance, when work will commence on Yellow Line,” he reiterated, adding that however, once such projects were complete, “you, as well as your future generations, will [have access to these] facilities”.
The minister said an easier option was to buy buses and simply run them on roads. “But given the situation of traffic and population growth, what would you have done in the future? If you have no routes [to run those buses], what will you do?”
“So, we apologise for the inconvenience that you are facing today, but these difficulties will end soon once these projects are complete,” he said. “These projects worth billions are for Karachi, as Karachi is the hub of Pakistan, Karachi is the hub of Sindh, and it belongs to all of us. The responsibility of Karachi’s development lies with all of us, especially those who are in governments.”
The minister said that was why a major portion of Sindh’s budget was spent on Karachi.
He claimed that no other city in Pakistan had “state-of-the-art government hospitals” similar to the ones in Karachi, where not just people from the port city but from across the country were being provided medical treatment.
“All of us have to work together for Karachi’s development […] because if Karachi will progress, the entire country will progress. So Karachi’s progress is Sindh government’s priority,” he asserted.
Memon was also asked about the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) accusing the Sindh government of its “incapability” in the area of development and demanding the chief minister’s resignation.
In his response, Memon said it did not matter what they demand. He asserted that the Sindh government had been carrying out development work in Karachi.
He also insisted that the port city had an “empowered local government system and that is why local bodies are functioning here”.
On MQM-P’s demand to make Karachi a federal territory, he said two of the party’s leaders were federal ministers. “They should then demand from the federal government to [make Karachi a federal territory] within 24 or 48 hours and warn that they would otherwise resign,” he said, adding that they would not do so.
