September 28, 2007	Friday	Ramazan 15, 1428

RAWALPINDI, Sept 27: The provincial transportation department has scrapped the tenders issued six months ago for launching a much-needed bus service in Rawalpindi-Islamabad.

Highly-placed official sources in the Punjab government told Dawn on Thursday that the tenders, which had been floated on March 15 for inviting transportation companies, have been abandoned in a move to allegedly prevent the Rawalpindi- based Varan Tours from taking part in the process.

The postponement of tenders came at a time when the secretary of the Punjab Transport Department, Agha Nadim, is fighting a legal battle with the chairman of Varan Tours, Uzma Gul, as the latter has sued the secretary in a court of law on the charge of defamation.

When contacted, Ms Gul said since her company had a good chance to win the tender process, the provincial government scrapped the tenders, in order to deter Varan from plying buses in the twin-cities.

She said the Punjab government was not allowing Varan to take part in tenders, adding that no sizable bus company existed that could ply its vans on all routes.

Mr Nadim is being represented in the district courts by secretary District Regional Transport Authority (DRTA) Tariq Mehmood as Varan’s operators are claiming Rs1.5 billion in damages against the top provincial transport secretary.

Sources said the bus service in Rawalpindi-Islamabad could not materialise due to the rivalry between the top provincial bureaucrat and owners of Varan tours, adding that the bus service would remain only a dream for commuters of the twin cities.

The Punjab government is demanding Varan’s owner to vacate the Chur Harpal depot, apparently in a move to accommodate the buses of a company owned by Moonis Elahi —son of Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi.

The city district government Rawalpindi, which had been promising to launch a bus service in the twin cities, is tight- lipped and seems unable to introduce the service after the rivalry between the transport secretary and Varan Tours began.

“The intervention of federal authorities can diffuse the tension and can introduce the much-needed transport service in the twin cities, otherwise there is no solution to the problem,” a senior official in Punjab Transport Department told Dawn from Lahore.

The official said the common commuters of Rawalpindi-Islamabad were becoming victims of the personal rivalry between the two parties, adding that Varan was the only eligible bus company that could cater to the demands of the commuters.

He said the government should again float tenders and allow Varan to participate too, as there was no other big bus company that could ply its vans on all routes of the twin cities.