PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Tuesday approved the procurement of hybrid passenger vehicles for the proposed Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit service and ordered the placing of advertisements for it in the newspapers after Eidul Azha.

He said the use of hybrid vehicles would help protect environment.

The development came during a meeting on the BRT project at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat here, where special assistant to the chief minister Shad Mohammad, MPAs Shaukat Yousafzai and Meraj Humayun, administrative secretaries, representatives of the Asian Development Bank, project experts and other relevant officials were in attendance.

A statement issued here said the meeting focused on the three packages of the BRT project and the fourth for the parking and commercial activities in Hayatabad, Dabgari and Chamkani areas.

The relevant officials told participants that the project’s first and third packages were ready for tendering.

The chief minister ordered the finalisation and launch of the tendering process after massive publicity in the media after Eidul Azha.

The ADB representatives gave a presentation appreciating the government’s support, traffic management, relocation of utilities and the CM’s ‘strong leadership’ for making the project feasible and thus, causing the execution of the implementation phase.

The CM ordered the speedy launch of the project after the fulfillment of all requirements, including procurements.

He asked the quarters concerned to immediately start work on the building package for the parking and commercial activities and once completed, the project should be fed by the revenue generated through the commercial and parking activities.

Mr Khattak also ordered the filing of a summary with him for the approval of additional resources required for the land acquisition, utility relocation, compensation for the affected people, the overall plan of displacement and rehabilitation under the project.

After formal approval, the finance department will release money.

The CM said the BRT was a unique third-generation project, which would help address traffic congestions across Peshawar.

He however said it won’t be a subsidised project compared to such projects being executed in other parts of the country.

Mr Khattak said he was optimistic that the BRT project would generate resources enough to pay back loans.

He ordered the beautification of the part between bus rapid transit lanes and provision of security for it.

The CM asked the transport department to initiate the process to put up the building of the Trans Peshawar Company and fulfillment of things required for the offices of the newly-recruited chief executive within a week.

He also said loan from the Asian Development Bank should be secured without delay to begin the project’s mobilisation process.

Mr Khattak ordered the early selection of bidders in line with the law and called for the development of a strategy to ensure the accelerated launch of the service.

“The government can no longer afford waste of time as it has completed all spadework to formally launch the project,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2017