RAWALPINDI: The Punjab Metro Bus Authority (PMBA) and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) have failed to reach an agreement over the operation of the metro bus service as well as the expenditure of the its stations.

The matter has now been referred to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat for a final decision.

PMBA Managing Director Sibtain Fazal Aleem, CDA Chairman Maroof Afzal, Rawalpindi Commissioner Zahid Saeed and Islamabad Chief Commissioner Zulfiqar Haider met at the Cabinet Division on Friday to discuss the agreement.

The Cabinet Division secretary was also present on the occasion.

A senior RDA official, privy to the meeting, told Dawn that the bus authority wanted to involve the CDA in the running of the bus service but it refused citing shortage of funds as the reason.

The matter of running the bus service referred to PM Secretariat

The official said it was then decided that the matter be sent to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.

“If funds are given to the CDA, it will then have no objection to running the bus service,” the RDA official added.

He said the civic agency had reservations over the manner in which the PMBA was running the show.

The official said the bus authority had hired the staff to run the bus service and then wanted an agreement with the CDA.

“This will definitely annoy the civic authority,” the RDA official said.

He said the bus authority had proposed that the capital’s body would share the subsidy on tickets within Islamabad and the PMBA in Rawalpindi.

The RDA official said the subsidy on commuters travelling from Rawalpindi to Islamabad and vice versa would be shared by the two bodies.

However, he said the CDA officials refused to share the subsidy and said that the civic body was already facing shortage of funds.

He said that the meeting was informed that the CDA would bear the expenditures of electricity and generators of 14 bus stations in Islamabad and PMBA would manage the utility charges of 10 bus stations in Rawalpindi.

He said the revenue generated through advertisement on the Islamabad bus stations and on the bus corridor would be collected by the CDA.

While in Rawalpindi, he said, the advertisement fee would be collected by the PMBA.

He said if the CDA agreed the command and control centre of the bus in Saddar would jointly be run by PMBA and CDA officials. He said the security, sanitation, operators of escalators, elevators and other services of the bus stations would be outsourced.

Published in Dawn March 7th, 2015

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