Sudanese Advisor: The price of tickets for the Baghdad Metro is set, and we will not pay a penny to

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[size=52]Sudanese Advisor: The price of tickets for the Baghdad Metro is set, and we will not pay a penny to the implementing company[/size]

[size=45]The Prime Minister’s Advisor for Transport Affairs reviewed detailed information about the Baghdad Metro, stressing that Baghdad “will not pay a single penny” in the project, which will be an investment like Istanbul Airport, while revealing that the advisory role will be important because it is even related to determining the ticket price for citizens.[/size]
[size=45]Nasser Al-Asadi, in an interview with the journalist Adnan Al-Taie:
The Baghdad metro project entered into a great debate and fabrication of narratives and stories. The contracts that were signed in the past were all valid, but there was no real will to implement them, and unfortunately there is money spent, but we do not question the responsibilities of others, they are as well. They were keen to build a proper project, but unfortunately they had no luck in implementing it.[/size]
[size=45]If we go back to previous transportation projects, we will find a number of shy projects that were not at the level required to solve the transportation crisis in the capital. The suspended train, which people have always talked about, covers an area of ​​21 km2, passes through only 14 stations, and serves a very small area that does not exceed 2% of the area. The capital, Baghdad.[/size]
[size=45]As for the underground train, designed by the French company Systra, it covered only 30% of the area of ​​Baghdad, and this is not useful for a large city like Baghdad. Therefore, when I joined the Prime Minister’s team a year ago, I noticed the great challenge of finding solutions, including the issue of transportation.[/size]
[size=45]I had the privilege of managing this file, based on the great experience I gained over the past 30 years, and the achievements we achieved in large global projects, so it was the first thing for me to transfer the experience to the country, and now we have redrawn the geographic policy of the city of Baghdad by creating a transportation system. More efficient, we worked to re-include previous projects and include them in our project, which covers 85% of Baghdad.[/size]
[size=45]The chosen Malaysian company has nothing to do with the plans drawn up by the government. The plans were a personal effort from the government, as we completed 7 lines covering all the vital centers in Baghdad, whether economic, religious or social. As for the reasons for choosing the Malaysian company, it is due to its experience, which reaches 42 years in the field of trains. It also worked in Kuala Lumpur, a city similar to Baghdad in terms of streets, in addition to the fact that the company had previously worked with the Gulf countries. We assigned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact the Malaysian Ministry of Transport, which in turn recommended the company.[/size]
[size=45]The consulting contract file that is being talked about today is in my hand. There were two scenarios. The first is for the government to appoint a consultant to design the project and review the process of auditing these designs by the investor later, and supervise the work, until the trial and actual operation, and this work is really great. Very, and requires large numbers and sums, but the numbers do not reach the number that is being talked about ($700 million), and in fact this number represents the upper limit in the event that the company expands, and to be on the safe side.[/size]
[size=45]4 months ago, I presented another scenario to the Prime Minister, and the idea is (why are we wasting the budget with a number that we could spend on health or education, so let us raise the issue of consultation for investment). Your Excellency the Prime Minister, within the government program, he proposed the idea of ​​supporting the private sector, and the private sector is more important to implement this project. And I say it today: If the government implements the project, it will not be completed until 10 years later.[/size]
[size=45]For example, the Turkish government did not pay a dirham for the new Istanbul airport, and it worked under the investment system or what is called the joint operating system, and the project was designed to accommodate 20 million passengers, today it can accommodate 40 million. Today we work with the same system.[/size]
[size=45]Even the consultant's fees, which amount to approximately 100 billion only, i.e. approximately 10% of the amount presented by the media, will be paid by the investor and the government will not pay a single penny for this project.[/size]
[size=45]The value of the project as a whole, according to the estimated study prepared by the government, ranges between 15-17 billion dollars, and whatever the number is, the government will not pay a penny for this project, but rather will receive the project from the investor.[/size]
[size=45]The consultant who was appointed, his job is to re-study the feasibility that the investor will organize so that there is no unjustified exaggeration in spending. He will also present the price of the card that the citizen will buy, as it is illogical to set the price of the card at ten dollars, so we find the metro empty because of the price, knowing that the consulting company is Malaysian. Its name is HSS, and it has a partner in the Middle East, the Arabian Gulf, and North Africa called CHSS. It is not Lebanese or even Egyptian, it is Malaysian.[/size]
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