• NA Communications Committee concerned with the third review in the Toll Tax, says Move violates the existing policy
• NHA obtains Flak for the award of the project contract to the joint company led by the company ‘disqualified’
Islamabad: The high priority Sukkur-Hyderabad highway project will begin in April next year, the National Highway Authority (NHA) informed the National Communications Committee of the Assembly.
“We will start the project in April next year,” said the president of the NHA, Sheharyar Sikandar, chaired by MNA Ijaz Jakhrani.
In his informative session to the NA Panel on Thursday, the president of the NHA said that the project would be funded by the Islamic Development Bank, and added that the early approval of the bank’s acquisition had been requested, and it is expected that the acquisition of land will begin within a month.
It should be noted that there is ambiguity on the timeline of this project, which has already faced delays.
In June of this year, the Minister of Communications, Aleem Khan, said that the very necessary road project would begin this year, but did not specify whether referring to the financial year or a calendar year.
Similarly, the planning minister, Ahsan IQBAL, recognizing the importance of the vital artery, said the work in the top priority project “would begin next year.” He made this statement in February, but did not specify whether he referred to the fiscal year or the calendar year.
Meanwhile, the Committee expressed its discontent for the absence of the Secretary of the Ministry of Communications, warning that the future instances of non -assistance would be presented to the Chamber and the Committee of Privileges for the appropriate action.
TAKING TAXS REVIEWS
The Committee also expressed concern about the third review in the toll tax in a short period, which seemed to contravene its policy of reviewing the tax every three years. The Committee considered this repeated increase against the public interest and ordered the NH to present a detailed justification in the next meeting.
The highway chief also informed the Committee on the legal framework under which the FIRs were registered against motorists who exceed the speed limit of 150 km/h, saying that the practice had the coverage of section 279 of the Pakistan Criminal Code (PPC) related to rapid and negligent driving. It was observed that since the application of this law, the victims on the highway had decreased significantly in the last five months.
The Committee requested a review, which suggests the replacement of corporal punishment with more strict financial sanctions and possible license suspensions.
Meanwhile, a call attention notice, moved by a member with respect to the presence of two toll seats within a five-kilometer stretch on the M-9 highway, called that it is contradictory with the existing policy that demanded a minimum distance of 35 km between two toll seats.
The NHA replied that there was an important bridge at that time, and under current politics, toll places were allowed on each important bridge, regardless of distance. The Committee ordered the NHA to present a list of all the bridges where toll places had been installed.
The committee was also informed that the bypass of northern Karachi would be part of the M-10 project, which would solve the congestion problems faced by Karachi.
FAEC PROJECT
The NA Committee also discussed the question of alleged irregularities in the tender process of the project of the Tranche-III Corridor of Regional Economic Cooperation of Central Asia of RS170 billion, since the four contracts had been granted to a company previously disqualified by the NHA.
The members of the Committee rebuked the NHA for allegedly favoring a joint business of the Chinese firm Ningxia Communication Construction (NXCC) and two local companies. The NXCC was disqualified in 2023 for supposedly not to complete an earlier project.
Since the matter is already being analyzed by the division of the Permanent Commission of Economic Affairs of the Senate, the agency decided to write to the Senate Committee to seek the findings of its subcommittee.
Posted in Dawn, August 1, 2025
