KARACHI: Opening of Yousuf Goth bus terminus delayed: Highest bidder to pay Rs35m
By Azfar-ul-Ashfaque
KARACHI, Nov 7: While the operation, management and maintenance contract of the first inter-city bus terminus at Yousuf Goth, Baldia Town, is awarded to a local firm, its formal opening has been delayed for another month due to some impediments in handing over the facility to private operators.
Sources in the city government told Dawn on Monday that the operation and maintenance contractor would pay total Rs35 million to the city government for a period of two years and an agreement in this regard would be signed within the next two weeks. However, the sources conceded that the much-awaited inauguration of the bus terminus had been delayed for another month. “We will take 10 to 15 days for handing over the site and signing of the contract with the private operator and naturally the contract would also take a two-week time to settle and start operations,” said a city government official.
In November 2004, former city nazim Niamatullah Khan laid the foundation stone of this inter-city bus terminus and claimed that the facility would be ready within three months.
This year, on Oct 17, a division bench of the Sindh High Court was informed by the city government that the Yousuf Goth terminus would start its regular operation within 15 days. The 15-day period was over on Nov 1.
Sources said that the delay in the inauguration of the bus terminus, which was constructed at a cost of Rs39.4 million, was due to absence of water and power facilities. They said that till date there was no permanent arrangement on this count.
The sources said that before handing over the site to the private operator, the city government has to complete all required work, including provision of water and power supply. Though the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board has launched the work for laying of water and sewerage lines, the task will take three to four months for completion.
However, City Nazim Mustafa Kamal told Dawn that water would be supplied to the bus terminus through 15 water tankers on a daily basis till the completion of KWSB work.
He said that the operation, management and maintenance contract of the terminus was awarded in a transparent manner and the contract was awarded to the highest bidder, who offered Rs17.5 million for one year. He said that shops and other facilities within the terminus would be auctioned by the city government and the revenue to be generated from these heads would be spent on city’s development.
The sources said that some 500 busses being plied on the RCD Highway would get parking facilities at the bus terminus after its inauguration. “The bus termini at Lea Market, Mewashah and Old Sabzi Mandi would be shifted to the Yousuf Goth bus terminus,” they added.
Mr Kamal made it clear that when he took over as nazim, PC-1 was not approved for the two other bus termini at the Super Highway and the National Highway. “As part of his election campaign, my predecessor only unveiled the plaques of several development projects without proper allocation of required funds,” he added.
He disclosed that he did not want to spend city government exchequer on the development of the two other intercity bus terminals.
“I will construct the two termini on built, operate and transfer (BOT) basis by foreign investors or multinational companies, which would operate these facilities for a period of 10 years. The city government would also get a huge sum of money from the operators of the new terminals,” he said.
The construction of both termini would start in the beginning of the next year and would complete in a record time, he claimed.
The inter-city bus termini will help in eliminating hundreds of illegal bus stands from various residential areas and reduce the traffic congestion on city’s main arteries.
