The Federal Minister for Communication, Dr Alamgir Khan, has said that Pakistan has incurred a loss of billions of dollars due to suspension of Afghan Transit Trade due to terrorist activities, while thousands of Pakistanis have been rendered jobless. However, road building projects in Afghanistan will expand the range of economic co-operation between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He said that the process of awarding contracts for construction projects needed to be made more transparent and wide ranging so that new contractors could also get a chance to participate in the process of national development.
He made these remarks at a press conference along with local PPP leaders Khalid Hanif Lodhi, Rizwan Alam, Khurshid Ahmed, and M Salim here on Wednesday. He said that more than 60 projects worth Rs 124 billion were underway in different parts of the country. He said that work on Lyari Expressway was near completion.
He said that the Authority's highest portfolio was in Balochistan. The minister said that excavation work in Lowari Tunnel project would be completed in the next few weeks, and the tunnel would be opened for traffic by 2010. He said the upgradation of Karakoram Highway was a priority project, being completed with the help of China. He said that work on Mansera-Naran road was underway while the interchange at Khanqah Dogran was duly completed.
He said that several new routes have been federalised, existing carriageways dualised and length of national highways under NHA control had increased from 6,564 km to 11,485 km.
The minister said that Pakistan's economic and social development could not be achieved without having a modern and efficient road infrastructure. He said the government was committed to upgrade the road network according to global standards. He stressed the need to accelerate the pace of work on mega construction projects so that these could be completed in time.
He termed safety of road users as top priority and said that necessary design changes, whenever required, must be made to enhance the safety of travellers. He assured of early completion of Lahore-Gujranwala section. The minister briefed the journalists about progress on different road projects and said that NHA was working to provide people a reliable and world class road infrastructure.
On the occasion Major General Imtiaz Ahmed expressed resolve to come up to the expectations pined on the institution by the leadership of the country. He said, "Our highways system is developing gradually but at the same time have enhanced obligations of the Authority manifold."
He said that pragmatic measures were being taken to meet both domestic and regional trade requirements in the coming years. He said it was also a source of pride that NHA after completion of Torkham-Jalalabad road in Afghanistan was also associated in about 35 roads inside Jalalabad city.
Road construction activities in Afghanistan reflected confidence on professional skill and expertise of NHA, he added. The NHA approved to award the contract for construction of Torkham-Jalalabad additional carriageway to FWO. The meeting discussed in detail up gradation of the Karachi-Hyderabad Super Highway as Motorway (M-9).
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