Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas Dual Carriageway Road: Contractor told not to charge toll fee before completion of project

The Sindh High Court on Monday directed the provincial government to restrain the contractor of much criticised Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas Dual Carriageway Road (HMDCR) project not to charge toll fee before finalising the project. Sources told Business Recorder the project was inaugurated by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Monday (January 4, 2010) but the authority concerned granted permission to the contractor much earlier for charging toll fee from vehicles.
Reacting to the complaints registered by commuters, the SHC restricted the contractor from charging toll fee before completion of the project. They said the Sindh government has allowed the contractor to collect toll and advertisement fees to meet expenditures and added that the average toll fee was calculated at Rs 43.24, which would be charged from vehicles including cars, bikes, mini buses, tractors, trucks, buses, etc.
To a question, they said the toll fee could be imposed only to control access road where alternative carriageway was also present but the said project was lacking both essences. "If the Sindh government imposed toll fee before its completion, it would be considered a clear violation of human rights, which should not be tolerated at any cost," they added.
They said the project, which is to be carried out as a Public Private Partnership between the government of Sindh and concessionaire, was aimed at improving, upgrading, widening, repairing and maintenance of a road linking the cities of Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas. The Deokjae Construction Company (Pvt) was awarded the contract of HMDCR worth $5.793 billion on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis with the assurance of the government to grant all necessary concessions, rights, permits, right-of-way and others.
They said the Sindh government would also give financial support to the contractor by providing Minimum Revenue Guarantee (MRG) of Rs 800 million and soft loan of Rs 1.75 billion at 4 percent interest rate, which would be payable in 20 years besides around Rs 2.2 billion would be added as bank loan. They said the HMDCR, spreading over 62kms, should be control access road to avoid any untoward situation and urged the government to put all efforts to make the project alive within stipulated period of two years.