PM LAYS FOUNDATION STONE OF SUKKUR-HYDERABAD MOTORWAY: Road to progress

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the development of road infrastructure connecting all provinces, particularly the disadvantaged areas of the country, was crucial for strengthening the national economy. The prime minister, who twice performed the foundation-laying of M-6 motorway in Sukkur and Hyderabad cities of the Sindh province respectively, said connecting the deprived areas, including Balochistan and Sindh, would pave the way for economic and social development, besides creating new business opportunities. With its ends in Sukkur and Hyderabad, the 306-km-long M-6 will be completed with Rs 307 billion within 30 months as per international standards. The M-6 portion will complete the North-South Motorway Corridor, also known as the Karachi-Peshawar Motorway, which will interconnect major cities of the country. The prime minister, in his address at the two events, said it was a matter of satisfaction for the coalition government to restore construction work of the M-6 motorway that faced a prolonged delay due to the inefficiency of the previous government. He emphasized upon ensuring the quality and standard of the M-6 motorway not less than rest of the motorway network in the country. He directed the relevant authorities to complete the public-private project within the stipulated time period. The prime minister encouraged Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal to promote further projects on public-private projects so as to achieve the goals of development and prosperity. He also called for improving road connectivity from Balochistan to the up-country in order to connect the all-important Gwadar Port and mainstream the province in the national economy. He announced the completion of the Sukkur-Rohri Bridge, which was earlier announced by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and also directed improvement of Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway to avoid traffic congestion and accidents. He also announced that the Federal Government would contribute Rs 1 billion to Sindh’s development fund to mitigate the sufferings of flood-affected people and urged the provincial government to allocate the same amount from its exchequer. He mentioned that federal and provincial governments, national and provincial disaster management authorities, and international aid agencies were collaborating in the rehabilitation efforts. Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan in the upcoming donors conference to be held in Geneva in January would urge the international community to provide assistance in the wake of massive life and infrastructure losses due to the recent flash floods. He criticized former prime minister Imran Khan for instigating public for his personal gains, and said instead, he should have protested over the manipulation of the cartels of sugar and wheat during his tenure. He hoped that the public would not fall prey to his negative campaign. The premier also highlighted that without Balochistan’s progress Pakistan will not prosper, adding that there is a need to make Gwadar port operational. He said this project was unnecessarily delayed by the previous government. “The coalition government is committed to bringing development and prosperity in all deprived areas of the country including Balochistan and Sindh.” Regarding rehabilitation work for flood-affected people, the prime minister reiterated his resolve to utilise all available resources for this purpose. He credited his sibling and former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif for laying the foundation of constructing motorways in the country. Ahead of the PM’s address, former planning minister Asad Umar congratulated the people of Sindh for the start of work on the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway but lamented the eighth-month delay in it. Umar said that the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) had approved the project during former prime minister Imran Khan’s tenure in 2021. He also shared that the project was approved by the Public-Private Partnership Board on March 31, 2022. “Before this, the contractor was also selected. Now after wasting 8 months, the imported government is starting work,” tweeted Umar.