NA Communications Subcommittee reviews NHA projects

NHA denies naming tunnel after Communications Minister Murad Saeed

ISLAMABAD: The National Highway Authority (NHA) has refuted reports that a tunnel has been named after federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed. The issue was raised in a meeting of the National Assembly’s (NA) communications subcommittee chaired by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Member of National Assembly (MNA) Murtaza Javed Abbasi at parliament house. Besides denying social media posts to that effect, the NHA informed the committee that the Mansehra- Hazara Motorway had been inaugurated and the road from Mansehra to Thakot would be finalized in four months.

The meeting took an amusing turn when committee member Osama Qadri of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) asked if a tunnel had been named after Murad Saeed upon which the committee convener termed the issue under discussion on social media as fake. The NHA also denied a tunnel had been named after the federal communications minister.

The meeting reviewed various ongoing and completed NHA projects. Briefing the committee, NHA officials said Rs185 billion had been allocated in the year 2018-19 for NHA projects of which Rs155 billion had been released. They also told the committee that an additional Rs47 billion was needed for a Hakla to Dera Ismail Khan project.

On projects under way in the capital, NHA officials said 8 stations had been constructed in the metro bus project to Islamabad airport and work was also in progress to double Indus Highway. Additionally, they said the Mansehra- Hazara Motorway had been inaugurated and the road from Mansehra to Thakot would be completed in four months. The committee convener asked for a briefing in the next meeting on projects which have been stopped due to non-funding and suggested that new projects not be initiated if the government lacks funds for them.

NHA officials also informed the committee that Taunsa Bridge would be completed in five months and work on the Lowari Tunnel had also been completed except the link road which was currently being built.

The NHA chairman, underlining the importance of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said that there was no problem in funding foreign aided projects, including CPEC, and that a new project from Zhob to Kuchlak had been approved on which work would soon be initiated. He added that the money saved from the projects would be used in CPEC projects.

Because of the excessive burden of traffic at Bhara Kahu due to travellers and tourists, the committee recommended the speedy completion of the Bhara Kahu flyover.

In the meeting, NHA officials also said that, with the establishment of the Pepra authority, the NHA Board’s authority had been abolished. The committee convener lamented the contrast of the developed world with our country, saying that the NHA transferred responsibility to the provinces while the world planned for projects 100 years into the future.