LAHORE: Under a joint venture, the consultants of the China Railways Engineering Consulting Group and the National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak) have started monitoring the structure work of the Orange Line Metro project.

A four-member Chinese team arrived in Lahore from China before Eidul Azha, Dawn has learnt.

LDA Chief Engineer Israr Saeed told Dawn on Thursday the team had returned to China due to Eid holidays in Pakistan. They were likely to be in Lahore again in a couple of days, he added.

Project’s main executor – a joint venture of the China Railways (CR) and Norinko – had earlier informed the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), executing agency of the project’s civil work, that it would itself monitor the construction of the Rs165 billion project.

Of the amount, Rs50 billion will be spent on the civil work. Both Chinese and Pakistani authorities had agreed to get project’s civil component completed by the LDA. When the LDA appointed Nespak as its consultant of the project, CR-Norinko said it would send its own team to Pakistan to monitor the civil work.

Officials say later on both parties agreed to make a joint venture of Chinese consultants and Nespak to monitor the project.

“The consultancy cost of the project is Rs2.4 billion which will be shared between them,”Mr Saeed said. Of the two, the Chinese group is the lead partner.

He said the consultants were supervising the piling work at Salamatpura, Ali Town and the area between Scheme Mor to Samanabad Mor via Yatim Khana.

The engineer said he did not know about the release of a $1.5 billion soft loan for the project by the Exim Bank of China.

The official said land for the project would be acquired after the issue of a final notification under the Land Acquisition Act and notices to property owners. He said the project was likely be completed before its 30-month estimated time.

Published in Dawn, October 5th , 2015

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