ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan on Friday blamed provincial governments for delays within the completion of assorted freeway tasks.
Presiding over a Nationwide Freeway Authority (NHA) evaluate assembly, the minister issued a decisive mandate to speed up the completion of crucial infrastructure, signaling a shift in direction of federal intervention the place provincial commitments have faltered.
Expressing formal dissatisfaction with the progress of tasks involving the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments, Khan famous that delays would not be tolerated, as these delays have been impeding progress on many important tasks.
He particularly highlighted that after ready for over 5 months for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa authorities to fund the Peshawar Northern Bypass, the NHA determined to finish the venture independently if provincial funds weren’t launched.
Khan additionally noticed that the Punjab authorities had remained unable to ship its promised share for the Rawalpindi-Kahuta venture, prompting him to direct the NHA to imagine full duty for finishing the unfinished transit corridors.
Alongside these administrative directives, the minister ordered the growth of the motorway community, directing that the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway be widened from 4 to 6 lanes and that the Sialkot-Kharian and Kharian-Rawalpindi sections be constructed as six-lane motorways.
He emphasised the necessity to meet strict technical and timeline targets, directing that the feasibility research of all NHA tasks obtain 100pc accuracy and that the ultimate phases of ongoing works — notably the bridges on the Peshawar Northern Bypass — be accomplished earlier than the July monsoon season.
The assembly, attended by the communications secretary and the NHA chairman, additionally supplied the federal minister a chance to precise displeasure over the gradual tempo of labor.
Khan reiterated that he would prioritize the fast completion of tasks to enhance the effectivity of the nationwide transport infrastructure.
The Northern Bypass venture, envisioned as a part of efforts to finish the Ring Highway round Peshawar, has remained stalled on account of delays in releases below the federal Public Sector Growth Program and different points over the previous 17 years.
Final 12 months, the KP authorities formally agreed to rearrange bridge finance of Rs4 billion for the early completion of the Northern Bypass, though the venture had a goal of Rs5.3 billion required to finish the venture’s ultimate section on schedule.
