LAHORE:PunjabMasstransit Authority (PMA) has asked the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to prepare and move a summary to the Punjab government for clearance of all liabilities related to Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project that was commissioned in 2020.

`The liabilities related to civil works of this project are to be cleared by the LDA and not the PMA. For this, we can render our full cooperation,` PMA General Manager (Operations) Uzair Shah told Dawn on Thursday.

`This is why we want LDA to move a summary seeking funds for clearing all liabilities related to orange line civil work. And we have asked LDA to do so,` he said.

He said he himself approached the LDA engineering wing and told the senior officials concerned to prepare summary and move it to the Punjab government (planning & development department) through secretaries for housing and urban development, transport and masstransit departments.

`When it will reach the transport department, we will endorse it keeping in view all necessary documents we already have,` he said, adding that since the loan period of Chinese loan has already expired, the availa-bility of funds for clearing liabilities (retention money etc) can only be made through moving summary by the LDA.

The country` first electricityrun masstransit project had been commissioned in October 2020 under the Belt and Road Initiative and China Pakistan E conomic Corridor. It was jointly undertaken by China State Railway Group Co. Ltd. and China North Industry Co. Ltd, with a total track length of 27.1km and 26 stations.

An OLMT depot is located at Dera Gujran, which is the northern end of the route, and another at Ali Town, the southern end of the route. The end-to-end travel time is 45 minutes. The project had been envisaged in December 2013, followed by floating of open international tenders in Jan, 2014.

And after a meeting of then president with the Chinese premier on Feb 19 in Beijing, the China decided to fund the project. It was also decided that the Chinese enterprises would execute the project using their expertise.

After getting a go-ahead in this regard, the LDA started the procedure under Land Acquisition Act, 1894 in 2015. The work on the project started in October 2015.

-Khalid Hasnain