PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Wednesday said he would inaugurate work on the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project on Oct 20.

Chairing a meeting here at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, the CM ordered the early finalisation of all prerequisites for the smooth work on the BRT project and its timely completion.

A statement issued here said the meeting discussed the traffic diversion plan during the BRT project’s execution, variation and additional stops and flyovers, the timelines for the putting up of buildings, legal requirements, responsibilities of executing agencies, resettlement of displaced persons, release of mobilisation advance to the parties, procurement of buses, hiring of operators and operating company, and pavement of additional feeding routes.

The CM approved the BRT project’s execution plan and asked the relevant quarters to ensure the simultaneous start of work on the initiative’s different parts, including traffic diversion plan, sensitisation of executing agencies, and coordination among different departments for the timely launch and completion under timelines.

He also approved the phasing out of buses and ordered the completion of the required level of construction in the main bus terminals in Chamkani, Hayatabad and Dabgari Garden.

Mr Khattak issued directions for the start of work on the bus stops after the project’s launch.

He said his government would follow the Asian Development Bank’s guidelines on the project, whose implementation should be quick to ensure that cost doesn’t escalate and that the project was completed within the deadline.

The CM said the qualified contractors needed to be quick as the technical evaluation of the project had been done.

He said the situation was ideal due to the transparency ensured in the whole process.

Mr Khattak asked the relevant authorities to ensure that the project has no hurdles.

He added that the ADB had already taken the responsibility for the qualification of contractors both technical and financial to complete the project within the stipulated time.

The CM said the award of contract should take place immediately, while there should be bridge financing.

He added that the government had already released the required financial support for the project.

Mr Khattak ordered the issuance of the project’s work orders to ensure mobilisation within 15 days.

He also ordered the revisiting of the traffic diversion plan and said the condition of the roads designated for traffic diversion should be up to the mark to take the extra vehicular load.

The CM said though work on the project would cause hurdles to smooth traffic flow but it would last for a short period of time with reduced hardship mitigation.

He asked the relevant authorities to sensitise everybody to the project and said different packages of the project should have different phases supported by progress schedule with fixed time completion under the design.

Mr Khattak ordered the PDA to provide additional land in Hayatabad for the project and approved the hiring of a consultant for supervising construction and implementing procurement guidelines.

Adviser to the chief minister on transport Malik Shah Mohammad Wazir, MPA Shaukat Yousafzai, chief secretary Mohammad Azam Khan, administrative secretaries, ADB representatives and PDA director general attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2017