Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Punjab Information Secretary Dr Murad Raas has said that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has inaugurated the Orange Train in haste; the project is incomplete, as only four out of the total 26 train stations are ready.
"A further two and half years is needed to complete the Orange train project. By prematurely inaugurating the Orange Train, Shahbaz Sharif tried to gain a political mileage. The government spent millions of rupees on its publicity to give a false impression that the train is fully functional," he said while addressing a press conference here on Wednesday.
He further said that the Punjab government pledged to build a power station for the Orange Train in the Punjab University, which till date has not started. "To fool the people, the CM started the train project with a diesel engine," he added. Raas also revealed that for the Orange Train the Punjab government took a loan of Rs 162 billion from China, on which we have to pay Rs 10 billion per annum under a head on interest. He accused the Sharif family of minting money through such mega projects.
He pointed that the construction of Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Peshawar cost Rs 4 billion and with this amount spent on the train the government could have built 41 such hospitals in Punjab. "The government has done nothing in education, health and water sectors," he added. He also reiterated the environmental cost of the Orange Train project by saying that over 600 trees were cut down during its construction, which has added pollution in the city.