Addressing a consultative seminar on the toll taxes, the Chairman of the National Highway Authority, Major General Farrukh Javed has disclosed that 47 percent of the national highways were in 'very poor' condition and need immediate up-gradation. He said that the total value of the national highways was Rs 600 billion but only 28 percent of those were in good condition, eight percent fair, 17 percent in poor and remaining 47 percent in very poor condition.
He was speaking to an assembly of passenger and freight transporters and private car owners in defence of authority's move to revise the toll taxes upward on the motorway and highways network.
The meeting had been convened as a "consultative process" of the authority and previous such meetings had been held in Balochistan and the Sindh.
The cost accountants, he added, had calculated that nearly Rs seven billion would be needed annually to keep the national road network in working condition.
The NHA chairman said that the current number of registered vehicles in the country surpassed five million but it was the increase in the axle load that had put pressure on the highways.
He said that NHA was setting up more "weigh bridges" along the motorways and highways to control the "menace of overloading" by freight carriers that caused furrows in the roads and slowed the traffic.
His address was followed by representatives of the road users voicing problems faced by them from the Highway Police, "corruption in collection of tolls and also against the weigh bridge managers" who collaborate with the owners of the overloaded freight carriers.
The process concluded with the NHA executives promising to look into the complaints and to take action to redress their grievances.
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