Chinese company Yutong Bus accepted the offer to set up a public transport plant in Sindh following a meeting between provincial minister for transport Sharjeel Inam Memon and Yutong Bus Country Manager Paul Zhang, on Thursday. The plant would either be set up in Karachi or Hyderabad. The parties agreed to create a ‘concrete’ proposal regarding the matter by next week. The plant is to apparently be constructed on 15 to 18 acres of land.
“The Department of Transport is making every effort to set up a public transport plant in Sindh,” Sharjeel Memon said, adding that this venture would improve the public transport system.According to the transport minister, the project would bring in foreign investment into Pakistan and create new employment opportunities.
Secretary Transport Abdul Haleem Sheikh, MD Sindh Mass Transit Authority Captain (retd) Altaf Hussain Sario and National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) Project Director Sohaib Shafiq were also present.
Earlier, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari inaugurated the intra-district Peoples Bus Service. The aim of the mass transit system is to facilitate locals of Karachi and provide the metropolis with desperately-needed public transport infrastructure.
Under the Peoples Intra District Bus Service project, around 240 air-conditioned buses, imported from China, will ply on seven routes in Karachi. The project will commence operations on Route 1 from Model Colony to Tower, covering a distance of around 29.5 kilometres and stop at 38 stations. In the first phase, seven routes have been finalised for Karachi on which 240 buses will operate.
