The government will take two mega road projects – Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway and Kharian-Rawalpindi Motorway on priority in the next fiscal year, after terminating both contracts owing to the failure of contractors to fulfill commitments including financial close.
This was stated by Asim Amin, Member Planning National Highways Authority (NHA) during e-Kachehri here on Wednesday. The member also admitted financial constraints to meeting road maintenance across the country.
Amin said that land worth Rs15 billion was acquired for Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway and awarded to the lowest bidders after fulfilling entire obligations. The concessionaire was given six months to fulfill the financial close requirement and after failure, additional time was given. At the same time, the concessionaire itself dissolved after its foreign partners refused to come to Pakistan. The Concessionaire failed to meet the requirements and finally, the NHA terminated the contract, he added.
The member further stated that the NHA is taking the project on priority and contemplating several options to kick-start the project. The government is engaged in negotiations with Chinese companies, foreign banks, and FWO to implement the project on a priority basis, Amin added.
The Member further stated that the same was the case with Kharian-Rawalpindi Motorway as the JVs were dissolved and the contract was terminated, however, the government is taking it on priority in the next financial year.
Responding to a question Member NHA stated that the Authority is carrying road maintenance from its revenue, however, the revenue is less than the requirement and facing difficulties to carry all projects at once. He said that the Chitral-Shandoor project was also delayed due to weather conditions and financial constraints.
Replying to another question the Member said that M-9 has been given to the contractor for 25 years and all the related work including widening and quality improvement would be carried out as per the agreement.
Member NHA said that GT road is around 1900 km and they are trying to keep the maintenance work within the available resources.
Responding to another question regarding the regularization of daily wages for employees, Amin said that the case is in court and NHA would proceed as per the court order.
The member said that the design for creating an interchange to the site of the Model Prison is completed but due to some financial constraints, the revision of PC-1 for the Model Prison is underway. However, an alternate and immediate access plan is being under finalization with government authorities and will be approved on priority as the Prime Minister’s Office is making regular progress on it.