RDA offers Chinese firm 5,000 kanal

Commercial land will be part of payment to build Leh Expressway

RAWALPINDI:

Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has offered 5,000 Kanals land to the Chinese firm as compensation for payment for building Leh Expressway.

Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has been made this offer to complete the project either under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) or Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis. The land can be used to construct residential or commercial establishments.

CCECC has asked RDA to identify the offered land area and they would take a final decision on whether to avail the offer or not after that.

RDA would complete the identification process this week and a 10-member team of CCECC would visit the related area. Any decision on the given offer would be made after the team’s visit.

Further, the firm has rejected the idea of building a toll plaza at Leh Expressway as it believes that it would not be profitable. The company officials have contended that the expressway would not be used by heavy traffic and therefore, only a meagre toll tax would be generated.

Besides constructing the expressway CCEC is willing to take up the project of cementing the Leh Nullah channel and constructing circular railway in the twin cities.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2020.