Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique has said that no political pressure Karachi Circular Railways (KCR) will be tolerated. "We are ready to lay down foundation stone of the KCR by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, but seriousness and sincerity should be expressed from both sides," he said, addressing a meeting between the PR administration and a delegation of the Sindh government at the Railways Headquarters, here on Saturday.
The minister said that the KCR was a historical and important project which should have been completed 30 years ago. He said that he had enjoyed the journey of tram. He said that when he saw a flood of problems in Karachi, he felt pain.
"We do not work under political pressure; we work on the recommendations of the professionals, we have revived a destroyed railway," he said, adding that he was ready to cooperate on the KCR project but didn't want to cause any loss to the nation.
Khawaja Saad suggested that upgrading Karachi-Peshawar mainline under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) should be part of feasibility of the KCR. He urged the consultants to create unanimity on the design under the supervision of the Chinese experts.
He directed the PR to cooperate on KCR for making it a profitable department by running it on commercial basis. Saad Rafique said that he personally visited former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and discussed the KCR issue and had written several letters to the Sindh government but no response had been received. "It is not my job to remove encroachments from the route of the KCR," he said.
The minister said that he talked to the Sindh chief minister Murad Shah and liked him personally even though he was member of the Pakistan People's Party. He said nothing could be gained through a blame-game.
"We are ready to cooperate on the KCR, but it was troublesome that no minister or secretary-level officer from Sindh was present at the meeting, whereas the top level administration of the Railways including the federal minister and CEO were present, which reflected seriousness and sincerity of the PR.
"Railways is a federal institution which does not enjoy holiday of Saturday and we are ready to leave even the holiday of Sunday for the Sindh delegation," he said, adding: "leave the politics aside and let us complete our professional matters." Khwaja Saad said that Karachi could only be freed from containers and trailers, when freight transportation would pass through Railways via Mainline-1 after its up-gradation.
"Only KCR will not resolve the issues of Karachi but up-gradation of ML-1 is also important. Unfortunately, it is not included in the feasibility report of the KCR," he lamented. He said he did not want to indulge in any blame-game; otherwise, verdict of the Supreme Court was there about the PR lands whereas the local government was also shareholder in the Karachi Urban Transport Company. "Administrative matters and development projects should not fall prey to politics," he said.
The Minister further said that China is a great friend and the nation is thankful to it for investment, but loan should always be taken in limits and burden of the loans could not be passed on to the next generations. "There is no confusion in our minds about provision of facilities to the people of Karachi, which is our responsibility," he said, adding that he had some reservations about the KCR, which had been addressed after provision of details.
The PR's CEO Humayun Rasheed, advisor to PR Minister Anjum Pervaiz and other officers from the railways also attended the meeting while Director General Sindh Mass-Transit Authority M Athar led the Sindh government delegation