KARACHI: The first meeting of the ECNEC (executive committee of the national economic council), which will be held after the formation of the new government, will decide whether the 24-kilometer Karachi Elevated Expressway would be built on Shahra-e-Faisal or along the right side of the railway tracks, City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal told Daily Times.
Elevated Expressways in MalaysiaHe said that, earlier, the city government had planned to build the Karachi Elevated Expressway on Shahra-e-Faisal from Quaidabad to Jinnah Bridge (Native Jetty), however, former railway secretary Shakeel Durrani had approached the city government and asked it to use the land along the railway track instead.“The proposal was a good choice for not only the city government, but also for Pakistan Railways.
It would help the city government save on costs while the railway authorities would save billions of rupees worth of property from encroachers,” he said.Kamal mentioned that the railway authorities had asked the city government to remove the encroachments along the right side of the railway tracks from City Railway Station to Quaidabad Junction, and rehabilitate the encroachers on city government land. “We agreed with this, however, the secretary was transferred to Wapda and the project was abandoned for a while,” he said.
He said that President Pervez Musharraf, the former prime minister and other stakeholders had approved the project, and now the final approval will be given during the first ECNEC meeting. He added that the Malaysian firm has set up office in the city and has already started work. The Karachi Elevated Expressway project was awarded to Malaysian firm IJM Corporation, and it is to complete it at an estimated cost of 400 million dollars in two to three years.
The firm will run the project for 20 years, collect toll tax, and then it will be handed over to the city government.The 24-kilometer expressway consists of six proposed interchanges at Quaidabad, Star Gate, HIR (Karsaz) Road, Shahra-e-Quaideen, Hotel Metropole and Jinnah Bridge. It may also be mentioned that the city government signed the MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Malaysian firm in March 2006 and the estimated cost at the time was 225 million dollars.
It would help the city government save on costs while the railway authorities would save billions of rupees worth of property from encroachers,” he said.Kamal mentioned that the railway authorities had asked the city government to remove the encroachments along the right side of the railway tracks from City Railway Station to Quaidabad Junction, and rehabilitate the encroachers on city government land. “We agreed with this, however, the secretary was transferred to Wapda and the project was abandoned for a while,” he said.
He said that President Pervez Musharraf, the former prime minister and other stakeholders had approved the project, and now the final approval will be given during the first ECNEC meeting. He added that the Malaysian firm has set up office in the city and has already started work. The Karachi Elevated Expressway project was awarded to Malaysian firm IJM Corporation, and it is to complete it at an estimated cost of 400 million dollars in two to three years.
The firm will run the project for 20 years, collect toll tax, and then it will be handed over to the city government.The 24-kilometer expressway consists of six proposed interchanges at Quaidabad, Star Gate, HIR (Karsaz) Road, Shahra-e-Quaideen, Hotel Metropole and Jinnah Bridge. It may also be mentioned that the city government signed the MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Malaysian firm in March 2006 and the estimated cost at the time was 225 million dollars.
No comments:
Post a Comment