LARKANA: Sindh Minister for Transport Awais Qadir Shah along with Jamil Soomro, the political secretary to Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, inaugurated the ‘Intra-people bus service’ here on Monday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony and later talking to the media, the minister said that the bus service was a pilot project for which a survey covering five districts — Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad and Shaheed Benazirabad — had been conducted over a period of four months. During the survey, the details of the project had also been studied, he added.

Awais Shah said the Sindh government had not invested a single penny in the operation of the buses as the vehicles would be run by private entrepreneurs.

The government, he said, only provided existing infrastructure facilities along the prescribed routes. The transport operators are bound to charge the fares prescribed by government, according to the minister.

He said commuters would be able to approach the department concerned in case of any complaint regarding the service for which a toll-free number would be available to them.

The minister congratulated people of Larkana for having the new facility saying that it was the first district to see the launch of the bus service.

“We intend to provide cheaper transport facility to people,” he said, and assured private transporters that their route permits would not be cancelled unless the laws, rules and regulations were violated.

He impressed upon the transport operators to strictly follow them and made it clear that overcharging would not be tolerated.

He pointed out that the PPP did not believe in rendering anyone jobless. He said the party would continue to pursue its policy of absorbing workers in different services.

He agreed with a questioner that such a service should have been started much earlier.

The minister said that initially a fleet of 18 buses were being brought on the road on different routes and with the passage of time the number could be increased and the service could also be extended to other districts.

Transport Secretary Ghulam Abbas Detho, Larkana Mayor Khair Mohammed Shaikh and officials of the department concerned were also present.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2019