Re: A ride on the PML-N’s shiny new toy
Yehi baat patwario kai demag mai samajh ajaye toa kiya hi baat hai..
Re: A ride on the PML-N’s shiny new toy
**Agar Rawalpindi walay Haneef Abbasi ko votes detay to aaj Pindi Islamabad ki transport kuch youn nazar atee
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Re: A ride on the PML-N’s shiny new toy
Re: A ride on the PML-N’s shiny new toy
The way Nawaz Sharif was crying about Hanif Abbasi losing his seat was pathetic. This shameless creature called Hanif Abbasi is foul mouthed jahil who was involved in Ephedrine smuggling and at one stage he was almost certain to be jailed but Nawaz Sharif government not only saved him but appointed him as head of metro project. Now wait till this Ephedrine smuggler comes back to parliament on the back of his metro project even though there are news about Rs2Billion corruption in this project.
Re: A ride on the PML-N’s shiny new toy
Some of the comments are really out of line in my opinion. It is a development work and it will dent ‘green-belt’, unless you destroy current roads and build few-storyed-highways which IMO is far more riskier, expensive and ROI will be much less. I disagree with Eidhi sahib’s insistence that if poverty is not reduced then why this project? Had this project been driven by him, Edhi bhai probably would’ve made his volunteer bus drivers as ‘fore-man’ or at various positions so they can earn more income and eliminate poverty, bhai sahib please learn trickle-effects in economy. So we need to not build bridges because we may be struck by earthquakes? Okay, lets demolish all buildings you never know an earth quake make rattle it out.
Re: A ride on the PML-N’s shiny new toy
What can you expect from nihari wala dimaag…
Not 2bn but 6billion corruption…
Re: A ride on the PML-N’s shiny new toy
Any court verdict against Hanif Abbasi in this regard or its just PTI FB leaks
Re: A ride on the PML-N’s shiny new toy
**Washington Post
**A startling sight in Pakistan: Fast, affordable, air-conditioned buses - The Washington Post
Re: A ride on the PML-N’s shiny new toy
Re: A ride on the PML-N’s shiny new toy
***Ambassador of Denmark to Pakistan, Jesper M. Sorensen
Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq
Re: A ride on the PML-N’s shiny new toy
Islamabad’s phobia of Pindi boys
Drowning in busloads of unwashed masses from Islamabad’s unfanciful twin in the south, the Centaurus Mall has introduced an entrance fee for crowd control. The kind of people exempted from the fee, reflect upon the refined tastes of the denizens of our capital city.
Islamabad’s wide-open boulevards have long served as convenient playgrounds for the people of Rawalpindi, seeking sanative refuge from the narrower streets laden with webs of over-ground electrical wiring. It is no secret that many, if not most, Islamabadis find this casual tourism somewhat perturbing.
With the launch of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro bus system, this ‘tourism’ is expected to expand. The Pakistani social media is already brimming with angry tweets and Facebook status updates by Islamabadis, bemoaning the horrid excess of Pindi boys in the malls of Islamabad; some as far as boycotting these places in protest.
‘Pindi boys’ (or “boyses”) is the pejorative term used for the stereotypical slimy-haired, gaudily clothed, Punjabi accented youngsters of Rawalpindi who journey to Islamabad, usually in large groups of predominantly male friends, to enjoy the sights and sounds of our nation’s capital.
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I happen to be one of those Pindi boys, though in all honesty, my hair is reasonably dry.**
The Centaurus Mall acted swiftly, enacting a modest Rs. 100 entrance fee — a small price to experience the splendour of a world-class shopping mall, of which the unfortunate souls of Rawalpindi are bereft.
[HR][/HR]The fee, is not much of an issue. Being one of the very few quality malls to grace the twin cities, crowd control is a legitimate problem. Problematic, is the list of people who are exempted from paying the entrance fee; a long list which is a less offensive way of saying who is not allowed to enter the mall freely.
[HR][/HR]
The list starts with obvious exemptions: young children, senior citizens, and…uh…“special people”.
It then expands to include government employees, and members of sectors that basically define all of Islamabad and the people who live and work there.
Naturally, all diplomats, foreigners, MNAs and MPAs, members of elite Islamabad country clubs are exempted, as are “famous” TV celebrities and athletes; how it is to be decided whether a person is ‘famous’ enough to enter the mall with a hundred rupees to spare, awaits explanation.
To Rawalpindi, it extends a warm, free welcome, but only to the members of the armed forces, among a few other classic Pindi institutions. More generally, it exempts executive directors and managers of multinational companies, as well as university faculty members and doctors (hurray, I’m in!).
[TABLE=“class: media one-whole palm–one-whole media–uneven, width: 698”]
The entire notice, is essentially a way of telling youngsters, particularly the Pindi boys that frighten the monocles off the Islamabad citizens, that they’re the type of people the Centaurus administration is less-than-eager to see inside the premises.
The list is a transparent game of Taboo, with the administration struggling to say “lower class” or “Pindi boys”, without actually saying the phrase.
Kashif Butt, marketing director of the Mall, noted: “The fact is that because of summer vacations, there are a lot of young people who loiter for hours.”
I wonder how that phenomenon is unique to the Twin Cities? Don’t young people hang around malls in other countries, say America; lazing around the central water feature, or sipping iced tea for hours in the food court? Surely, it is not a surprise that a shopping mall is a public space where people often gather and socialise?
And the administration certainly doesn’t seem to mind youngsters from any of the privileged categories of people loitering around, including young doctors and country club brats?
Know that, at the end, this obvious class-policing is not a Centaurus problem, it is an Islamabad problem, and it is a shameful one.
It is a matter of the elites marking their territory; defending their glittering spaces against the onslaught of the underprivileged ‘paindus’ who dare to sneak a taste of a nicer, shinier Pakistan.
Re: A ride on the PML-N’s shiny new toy
Koi Sharam Hoti Hai, Koi Haya Hoti Hai…
Unpaid drivers suspend metro bus service
RAWALPINDI: Just 36 days after the launch of the metro bus service, its drivers on Friday went on a strike against non-payment of two months’ salaries as promised by the Turkish Al-Burraq company, which has been awarded the contract to run the mass transit between the twin cities.
The commuters faced hardship as the drivers parked the 64 buses at different stations for more than four hours till 5pm. The drivers threatened to halt the service on a permanent basis if their salaries were not released before Eidul Fitr.
The protesters were carrying placards inscribed with slogans against the Punjab government and the officials concerned of the Metro Bus Authority (MBA).
They demanded Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif take notice of the non-payment of salaries to them. Action should also be taken against the officials concerned for creating financial problems in the MBA soon after the launch of the service, they added.
The local administration held negotiations with the protesters at the Pakistan Secretariat Bus Station and assured them that the issue would be resolved. After this, the protesters called off the strike.
When contacted, Commissioner Zahid Saeed told Dawn that he had asked the private company to resolve the problem.
He said after negotiations, the company assured the metro bus service employees that they would be paid the salaries before the Eid. He said the chief minister also took notice of the strike and decided to penalise the private company.
“Under the contract, the private company will be penalised if the metro bus service got suspended,” he said.
“Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif held a video conference and also asked the contractors to repair the leakages created after the rains. On the directions of the chief minister, the asphalt work near 7th Avenue has been started. No additional funds will be used for the repair work as under the agreement of the contract the contractor will have to carry it out on their own,” said the commissioner.
Meanwhile, Due to the closure of the metro bus services hundreds of commuters remained stranded for hours in the metro bus stations.
After coming to know about the strike, the Protesting drivers suspend metro bus service commuters were left with no option but to use the public transport on the service roads of Murree Road.
“The poor quality of the construction on the metro bus track was exposed during the rains and now the strike has showed the efficiency of the authority running the affairs of the bus service,” said Muhammad Akram, a commuter at the Saddar bus station.
Kamal Hassan, a commuter at Liaquat Bagh, said Rs50 billion were wasted on the bus service which remained closed during rains and twice due to strikes.
“People ask about the spending of the hefty amount of Rs50 billion on the metro bus project. The quality of the construction on the metro bus track over Murree Road is poor as there is no arrangement to drain out rainwater,” he said.
Waqar Ahmed, another commuter, said after only one month financial problems erupted in the bus service.
He said an inquiry should be held to ascertain how in a short span of time the financial problems developed in the bus authority due to which the employees were not paid their emoluments on time.
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Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2015