Karachi's Red Line suffers another blow as decision to cancel Mosamiyat-to-Numaish contract declared ‘invalid’

KARACHI: In a major blow to hopes of easing Karachi’s transportation crisis anytime soon, the Sindh government’s decision to cancel the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line construction contract has been declared “unlawful, invalid, null and void”. The ruling was delivered by the Dispute Resolution Board after the Sindh High Court asked the parties to approach the forum. The Dispute Board’s decision also delivered an extraordinary indictment of the very agency entrusted with executing the project — TransKarachi — questioning its institutional capacity and pointing out its lack of experienced project management needed to administer a project of this magnitude and complexity. The contract…