TransPeshawar BoD chair quits over BRT delay matter

PESHAWAR: After Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government blamed TransPeshawar for delay in launch of Bus Rapid Transit system, chairperson of the company’s board of directors resigned from his post.

According to sources, TransPeshawar Board of Directors Chairperson Javed Iqbal resigned to protest the removed of the company’s chief executive officer, Altaf Durrani, saying the decision was unfair and wrong.

In a letter written to the company’s board of directors, Iqbal wrote that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak set unrealistic dates for the completion of BRT project.

But the chief minister has said the project would complete soon regardless.

While talking to the media in Peshawar on Sunday, Khattak said the project was to be completed in six months but would now be launched in eight months. Moreover, buses bought for the system would arrive in June.

Regarding dismissal of TransPeshawar’s CEO, the chief minister said he was removed over delay in inauguration of the BRT system. Khattak said he asked Durrani to expedite work on the project but all in vain.

Speaking about the project, Khattak said they prepared structure of the project for Rs29 billion whereas the Punjab government did so at a cost of Rs32 billion. The KP chief minister said they would also not subsidise the BRT system like Punjab government was doing, claiming that BRT system in Peshawar would run on profit for the next 10 years.

About delays in the launch of BRT, Khattak told media persons that the railway ministry had promised them land for the project but they backtracked on their statement. The KP chief minister added it also took them two years to procure loan from Asian Development Bank.

TransPeshawar blamed for delay in BRT launch

TransPeshawar is a company responsible for the BRT project design, procurement, implementation, on-going BRT operations and service contract management.

The company’s CEO was dismissed after KP Cabinet briefed the chief minister on the matter pertaining to BRT.

However, sources have said that Durrani was removed for refusing to procure bus fleet worth Rs5.5 billion at a time when the BRT infrastructure and corridor were incomplete.

It has been said that the CEO was asked to transport the buses by road from China. However, Durrani refused to comply, saying that it would increase the cost of each bus by at least $30,000, besides affecting the warranty of the vehicles.

The CEO has also been reported to have informed the government that there was no depot for the hundreds of buses and the infrastructure was also not yet ready for the operation of the vehicles.