Expressing grave concerns over the deteriorating situation of Karachi’s public transport, the Jamaat-e-Islami’s city chief proposed a solution. Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that modernising the road transport system can help almost double revenue generation from the metropolis.
“Karachi is the revenue generation engine of Pakistan, and putting in place a proper public transport is like oiling this vital engine, which is currently rusting due to a lack of care from the government,” Rehman said while addressing a meeting at Idara Noor-e-Haq, the JI’s secretariat.
He said that at the present moment, Karachi seems to be the only megacity of the world where the citizens do not have proper mass transit facilities.
He also said Karachi has a pathetically low number of minibuses that stop plying early in the evening, while after 11pm hardly any public transport bus is seen anywhere in the city.
He pointed out that people, and even families, have been seen walking to reach their destinations because after the hike in oil prices, hailing a taxi or a rickshaw has gone beyond the reach of an ordinary citizen.
“On dozens of approved minibus routes in Karachi, there’s not even a single minibus that plies, because the private transport mafia runs the commuting system of the city on their own terms.”
