Caretaker Minister for Communications Barrister Habibur Rehman said on Friday that the government attaches top priority to completion of ongoing road construction projects in the country.
While presiding over a high-level meeting held to brief him on National Highway Authority (NHA) he said that communication network plays a key role in the country's socio-economic development. Secretary Communications Sajid Hussain Chattha and senior officials of the ministry and NHA also attended the briefing.
Appreciating the concept of National Trade Corridor (NTC) the minister said that completion of this concept would help promote trade activities not only in Pakistan but the entire region. He emphasised the need for maintaining transparency in allotment and execution of all projects and strict compliance of rules and regulations. He expressed his full confidence in the capabilities of NHA management and assured full cooperation of the ministry for timely and quality completion of NHA projects.
Secretary Communications directed that steps should be taken to improve the quality of ongoing projects. He also stressed the need for practical measures to control overloading on the national highways. While briefing Chairman NHA Major General Imtiaz Ahmed said that out of the total length of the federalised roads under the NHA now stands at 11485 km and account for 4 percent of the entire road network and 80 percent of the commercial road traffic in the country.
He told the minister the country can save $2bn annually by upgrading its communications network. He said that NHA was attaching top priority to upgradation of Karakoram Highway and work on Raikot-Khunjerab section would start soon. He said that work on Nowshehra-Chitral highway and Lowari Tunnel is in full swing. Similarly work on Gawadar-Rattodero section of M-8, Gawadar-Turbat-Hoshab section is continuing.
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