NHA projects delays due to shortage of funds

Islamabad: Sixty under-construction projects of the National Highway Authority (NHA) have been delayed due to paucity of funds and law and order situation.

During a briefing Federal Communication Secretary Sharif Ahmed informed the Minister for Communications Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan that the NHA had yet to complete 60 projects.

Of these projects five were in Sindh, 11 in Punjab, 19 in NWFP, 23 in Balochistan and two in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)/Northern Areas (NA), he said, adding that all delays were occurred due to delay in release of funds and law and order situation.

On the conclusion of a detailed briefing by the Communication Secretary, the minister told reporters that five Construction Machinery Training Institutes (CMTI) would be established to train maximum number of skilled people.

Dr Arbab said that all delayed projects of the NHA would be completed on priority basis, and added that the NHA and NH&MP were the two departments, which had reputation of international standards.

The Secretary said the NHA was responsible to construct and maintain all federalised roads, where the Notional Highways and Motorway Police was responsible to regulate traffic and control accidents. He said the NHA was maintaining four percent of the entire road network, whereas 80 percent commercial vehicles were plying on one road, ie N-5, being a major artery of the entire road network.

The minister was informed that 4,343-kilometre roads were under planning, which would be constructed in the next 12 years at a cost of Rs 407 billion. The minister also said that transparency must be observed in giving all the contracts by the NHA, including the contracts of toll plazas. He further said that the projects of Lowari Tunnel, M4, Faisalabad-Khariewal motorway, Peshawar-Torkhum Expressway and Peshawar Northern Bypass would be completed on priority basis.

The minister said that five more CMTIs would be constructed in all provinces, including AJK, as the present government desired to provide maximum technical jobs to the poor people. He said that these institutions would be established in all provinces and it was decided that these institutes would be established at Hyderabad, Quetta. Swabi, Garri Doppatta (AJK) and at Bahawalpur as early as possible.

He also praised the performance of NH&MP, and said this force had done so many things beyond their part of duties like recovery of kidnapped and stolen children and recovery of stolen vehicles. Inspector General (IG) of Motorway Police Muhammad Raffat Pasha, NHA Chairman Chaudhry Altaf Ahmed and lmtiaz Safdar Warriach were also present on the occasion.