Lahore: National Highway Authority (NHA) General Manager (Design) Asim Amin on Sunday said that with the completion of the motorways and highway projects under-construction Pakistan will become a hub of regional trade.
Talking to APP, he said NHA was working on Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) road projects’ vision through the private sector on Build Own Operate (BOO) and Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis.
“The PML-N government is vigorously working on road and communication projects worth billions of rupees to reduce poverty,” he added.
Amin said that all provinces and territories including Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir were being connected through a network of high-quality roads and highways to help accelerate socioeconomic development in the country. He said that completion of the major part of M-4 (Faisalabad-Multan Motorway) was another milestone in upgrading and decongesting country’s overburdened transport infrastructure.
Amin said on the instructions of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a number of road connectivity projects were being launched to reap maximum economic and social benefits.
The 136km Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway with 16 exits is being constructed for Rs24 billion (Dh836 million), he added.
He said that Sialkot-Lahore Motorway Project would change the fate of Gujranwala-Lahore and adjacent regions. Work on Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway and Khanewal-Lahore Motorway would be completed soon, he added.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had inaugurated various sections of the M4, which will be connect Faisalabad with Multan upon completion, he added.
Amin further added the projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) comprise of modern highway and railway transportation systems.
To a question, he said that until now, in all three phases, more than 5000 kilometres of rural roads have been constructed and revamped on modern lines at a cost of Rs51 billion.
“Completion of under-construction motorways and highways including CPEC projects would open new vistas of opportunities for the people of the adjacent areas and end the sense of deprivation among the people of far-flung areas of the country,” he added.
