Elahi apprehends ruining of LRMTS project: Punjab government criticised

Pakistan Muslim League-Q leader and senior federal minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi Tuesday said that work on Lahore Rapid Mass Transit System (LRMTS) Project was initiated by his party's government in 2004 and expressed apprehension that the incumbent Punjab government, due to its ineptness, will ruin this project.
Talking to reporters here, Elahi accused Punjab government of ruining the provincial economy and said government's sinister move of renaming and asserting its claim over the mega project will fall flat as the public is well aware that LRMTS project was conceived, planned, financed and initiated by PMLQ-led govt. He alleged that Punjab government has inflicted huge losses to the people of Punjab by scrapping earlier government's successful projects.
Giving details on the LRMTS project, he said that after inviting international tender in 2004 from consultants, his government had short-listed M/s Hong Kong Company credited with several successful urban metro projects the world over. He said that Systra, a French company completed the reference design of LRMTS in 2007 which included engineering, planning, financial evaluation and other project details.
Elahi told media men that as per international standards, a mega construction project is considered 30 percent complete once its reference design is ready. Explaining the financial aspect of the LRMTS project, he said that according to the 2006 price index, cost for 27-km green line, that was to begin from Ferozepur Road Lahore and culminate at Shahdara, was put at US $2.4 billion. In view of viability of this project and prevalent friendly investment climate in Punjab, Asian Development Bank (ADB) had agreed to extend a loan of US $1 billion at only 1.5 percent mark up while for rolling stock, various large investment groups showed keen interest.
He further told media men that Shahbaz's government, soon after coming into power in Punjab immediately went about scrapping and stopping projects of earlier government on obviously vindictive grounds. "The LRMTS project also became a target of revenge and the present Punjab government, as it conveyed to the ADB that the US $1 billion loan was not required as the investment climate in the province was not congenial," he said. He added that Shahbaz Sharif was the first ever chief minister that not only denied a much-required loan but also conveyed the investors at large to stay away from investing in Punjab. He called it the biggest treachery in country's history. He further said that timely completion of LRMTS project had the potential of generating US $100 million per annum apart from creating over one million job opportunities apart from saving of the public's precious time and money.
Criticising Punjab government's recently signed Rail Road project in Lahore with the foreign company, the PML-Q leader said that there were irregularities in the so-called MoU. He alleged that there was no project feasibility and the financial details including the mark-up rate on a massive US $1.87 billion loan that had not been made public. He said that Shahbaz government's abject failure to manage Punjab was evident from the fact that it was left with no choice but to revive the earlier government's projects namely the IT Tower Lahore & LRMTS.
He also suggested the Punjab government to rename "Lahore-Sialkot Motorway Project" as "Nawaz-Shahbaz Motorway" to pave way for its revival. He termed the present Punjab government incompetent and devoid of any vision.
He further said that soon after Shahbaz government had taken over the affairs in Punjab he had been pinpointing its in-competencies. He criticised the government for its tall claims of turning 8-Club road into an IT University, selling of bullet-proof vehicles, Sasti Roti scheme, Green Tractor scheme, task forces etc.