Tehran Mayor Qalibaf: Municipalities legally tasked with operating subways
TEHRAN, Nov. 22 (Mehr News Agency) -- Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf says that according to the law, only municipalities are allowed to build and operate subway systems and everyone should abide by the law.
Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf (file photo)
"According to article 3 of the law the Majlis
ratified in (Iranian calendar year) 1385 (March 2006-March 2007), municipalities
are tasked with building, operating, and managing metro systems," he said in
Tehran on Sunday at the inauguration ceremony for a number of libraries.
He made the remarks in response to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announcement
on November 11 that the administration plans to take over control of the Tehran
Urban and Suburban Metro Company from the Tehran Municipality.
The Tehran Municipality was tasked with operating the Tehran Metro in 2001, but
Ahmadinejad, who was the mayor of Tehran from 2003 to 2005, said his
administration has decided to take control of the Tehran Metro.
Related Article: The Fight Over Tehran Metro: Ahmadinejad vs. Hashemi |
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The current problem of the Tehran subway system
does not have anything to do with its management, but rather, the underground
system suffers from a lack of funding, Qalibaf stated.
People expect proper service from the metro system and do not care who is in
charge of the system or how it is managed, he added.
He also said the parliament is devising a plan to allow the subways systems of
Tehran and other major cities to have access to $2 billion from the Foreign
Reserve Exchange Fund.
The ratification of this plan can be a serious step for the development of metro
systems, Qalibaf noted.
He went on to say that he does not intend to politicize the issue and plans to
present a report to inform the public about the Tehran Municipality's activities
in regard to the subway system and its investments in the Tehran Metro.
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