The absence of chairman National Highway Authority (NHA) from the scheduled meeting of the relevant committee of the Upper House of the Parliament drew the ire of the committee's chairman and members who said that the top bureaucrat attempted to 'insult' the panel by not attending its meeting. "The chairman NHA has no time for us. This is our insult," remarked Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Communications Hidayat Ullah while chairing the committee's meeting at the Parliament House on Tuesday.
He was referring to the absence of Chairman NHA Jawad Rafique Malik from the committee meeting. The panel decided that a 'letter of displeasure' will be sent to chairman NHA for not attending committee meeting. The chairman NHA could not appear before the committee due to his official important commitments, official sources said. He was scheduled to brief the Senate panel in Tuesday's meeting on revenue collection by NHA from toll plazas from 2013 to 2019.
During the meeting, the committee members agreed on the formation of a sub-committee under the convener-ship of Senator Fida Muhammad Khan to review details of revenue collected from toll plazas on National Highway and Motorways during the period from 2013 to 2019 and amount utilised on the maintenance and renovation GT Road. The sub-committee would also review NHA monthly statements and details of funds.
Taking up the issue of axle road on motorway and highways, the committee was informed that 95 percent of cargo is transported by road in Pakistan. "Axle overloading causes numerous ills including pavement deterioration, road capacity reduction and high fuel consumption. In addition to all of this, it also poses a huge risk to life," the committee was briefed by NHA officials.
The committee was informed that the Ministry of Communications had constituted a committee to formulate a model plan for implementation of NHSO 2000.
This committee gathered data on load generating point and proposed short and long term plans by meeting stakeholders. The Axle Road Regime was implemented on 1 June, 2019. However, due to concerns of the industrial sector this has been put on hold since 20 June, 2019 for 90 days, the Senate panel was briefed.
The meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Communications was attended by Senators including Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini, Mir Muhammad Yousaf Badini, Dr Ashok Kumar, Usman Khan Kakar, Behramand Tangi, Liaqat Khan Tarakai, and Fida Muhammad Khan, and senior officers from the communications, NHA and relevant authorities.
Comments
Comments are closed.