LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday blamed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for the 22-month delay caused in the construction of the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project. The chief minister was talking to the media in Lahore, shortly after the Supreme Court’s orders, which cleared the way for completion of Orange Line Metro Train without any delay. The Supreme Court of Pakistan dismissed the decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) halting work on selected sites of the Orange Line Metro Train project. “The PTI had submitted an application in the Supreme Court. Then, as hidden enemies strike, they did the same in the Lahore High Court. The revenge they have taken is not from me. They have taken revenge from the poor people of the city.” The chief minister added that the project was to be inaugurated on December 25 according to the original plan. When asked when the project would be operational, Shehbaz said he would inform the date at a later stage. “But PTI and Imran Khan Niazi’s team delayed the project for 22 months.” He elaborated that the Lahore High Court had a stay order on the project for 14 months and the apex court announced its verdict eight months later. Shehbaz added that the PTI did not want the people to benefit from an efficient and cheap mass transit system. “The project was to run from December 25, now, due to the delay we are absolutely out of line.” Criticising the opposition party further, Shehbaz said they had been unable to even lay a brick for the metro project in Peshawar after a passage of four and a half years. The chief minister further said if the project had been built on time and not subjected to delays, it would have lessened thousands of cars on the roads and led to less severe smog in the provincial capital. “The tickets for the metro project would be reasonable and the price would be set keeping the common man in mind.”
Published in Daily Times, December 9th 2017.
