ISLAMABAD - Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has demanded of the government to complete metro bus project in time as delays have hit the business activities in twin cities badly.
Vice President FPCCI, Mian Akram Farid said that all the businesses in Islamabad have suffered but the Blue Area is worst hit where many traders have gone bankrupt while hundreds are on the verge.
Speaking to a 25-member delegation of the traders of Blue Area, led by their Chairman Malik Saghir Ahmed who came to congratulate him and Chairman Coordination FPCCI Malik Sohail on assuming charge, he said that ill planned metro bus project construction has created a new challenge for the business community.
Chairman Metro Bus Project Committee Hanif Abbasi had assured the business community on various forums that the project would be completed two months ahead of the due date that was January 2015 which proved futile, he said.
Main Akram Farid said that many roads in Islamabad are closed owing to the construction work on the project resulting in scarcity of customers and transport issues.
He said the schools will be reopened next day but due to the closure of main arteries in the city, commuters will have to face severe inconvenience. Speaking on the occasion Malik Saghir said that the busy business centre of Blue Area is giving a deserted look, adding that roads in Islamabad are deteriorating due to the frequent movement of heavy trucks even on service roads.
He asked the Metro Bus Project management and CDA to look into these problems and take urgent measures to speed up the pace of work for completion of the project.
The delegation included Liaquat Noon, Haji Naeem, Yusuf Rajput, Syed Amin Pirzada, Hameed Abbasi, Fahim Khan, Ch. Aslam, Muhammad Kaleem, Raja Hassan Akhtar and others who said that they would stage a sit-in if u-turn was not made in Blue Area immediately
Meanwhile, Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has asked the contractors of metro bus project to speed up work on the project in three shifts by involving more labour force.
“The contractors have been directed to increase the labour force for speedy completion of the project,” an official associated with the project said.
The multibillion rupees project for the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad is likely to be inaugurated on January 31.
The official said Chief Engineer Saeed Akhtar during a visit to the construction site was informed that the labourers were facing problems due to thick fog at night and early morning. Akhtar asked the contractors to complete the necessary work as early as possible so that it could be inaugurated on time.
The project, which was earlier scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014 was delayed due to sit-ins in the capital. As many as 64 buses will ply on the metro bus route.
The bus service would start from Flashman’s Resort Chowk on Benazir Bhutto Road and will end at Pakistan Secretariat. The buses would cover a distance of 23.2 kilometres through Benazir Bhutto Road, Faizabad, IJ Principal Road, 9th Avenue and Jinnah Avenue of Islamabad.