Summary The project is likely to complete around October 2017 and will cost at least USD 1.6 billion.
LAHORE (Dunya News) – Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday summoned reply from Punjab government over the petition filed against the appointments and transfers in health department on political grounds.
Petitioner’s counsel Advocate Azhar Siddique stated before Justice Khalid Mehmood Khan that Punjab government has started to invest the allocated health budget on Orange Line Train project.
He said that due to non-availability of health budget, diphtheria medicines have disappeared from the hospitals as a result of which more than 22 children have fallen prey to death.
The petitioner argued that Chief Minister Punjab does not possess any constitutional or legal right under which he can pass orders to invest the reserved health budget on Orange Line Train project and that too without the approval of the assembly.
Also Read: LHC admits plea challenging Orange Line transit project
The petitioner requested the court to issue a restraining order over the budget usage on which the judge sent notice and summoned reply from the Punjab government till December 21.
Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif had signed the agreement last year in a ceremony which was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Mamnoon Hussain.
The project is likely to complete around October 2017 and will cost at least USD 1.6 billion.
Orange Line rapid transit system was implemented upon 15 months after Lahore’s first transit project called Metro. Both the projects were initiatives of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.
