Lahore to Karachi: Stakeholders directed to start cargo shuttle service

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has directed the concerned stakeholders to start a cargo shuttle service from Lahore to Karachi and other parts of the city so people could send their goods from one city to another without any hassle.

“Cargo shuttle service is a dire need of the hour to facilitate the public and it must be started,’’ the minister gave these directions while chairing the 66th meeting of the National Logistics Board (NLB) on Friday.

The meeting was attended by Quartermaster General, Director General, NLC, Secretary Ministry of PD&SI and other board members.

The DG NLC briefed the participants about the operational, administrative and financial matters of the organization with special reference to the accomplished tasks and future development plans of NLC.

The board was informed that an additional 150 vehicles have been booked enhancing the fleet size up to 900. Moreover, 200 additional vehicles are planned in FY-2022-23 that would increase the fleet size to 1,100.

Speaking at the occasion, the minister emphasized the importance of public interest projects particularly, Karachi Green Line and directed the concerned stakeholders to expedite the projects.

“This is the public interest project which will cater to thousands of commuters in Karachi and it must be expedited,’’ said the minister.

The minister further added that all the bottlenecks in this regard will be removed immediately.

He hoped that the NLC would continue to play its role in boosting economic activities in the country.

The NLB also approved the budget estimates presented by NLC management for the financial year 2022/23.

Earlier, it was also informed by the Board that the first commercial TIR moved to Turkey and Azerbaijan through Iran in October 2021. In addition, a road freight terminal is also being developed at Landin (Karachi) comprising all facilities of transport operations. Similarly, it was informed that the logistic management system has been digitalised and it will be integrated with the ERP. During the meeting, it was further informed that the NLC has digitized the logistic management system and a state-of-the-art data centre has been established to cater the needs for the next 10 years.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022