Working on the roads: Committee formed to solve Lyari Expressway issues

Completion of a 2.2-km stretch of the expressway facing hurdles due to financial constraints and encroachments

KARACHI:

The National Assembly's standing committee on communication decided on Monday to constitute a finance committee to resolve funding issues delaying the completion of the Lyari Expressway project.

MNA Sufyan Yousuf chaired a meeting at Commissioner House in which he stressed the need to finish the project by the end of the current financial year.

The meeting was informed that the completion of a 2.2-kilometre stretch of the expressway was facing hurdles due to financial constraints and encroachments.

It was subsequently decided to form a five-member committee comprising the federal and provincial finance secretaries, the Karachi commissioner, the planning and development secretary and the National Highway Authority (NHA) chairperson. The committee will coordinate with the federal and provincial governments to generate the necessary funds within a month in order to start work on the project.

Speaking to the media later, NHA chairperson Shahid Tarar said that notices had been issued to residents to evacuate their properties along the Lyari Expressway. He added that the government would provide the residents with compensation and alternate plots.

The meeting also discussed work on a road from Larkana to Moen Jo Daro, which too has been halted due a lack of funds.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2014.