Islamabad: The National Highway Authority (NHA) has failed to auction three rest areas located on the Islamabad-Murree Dual Carriageway, commonly known as the Murree Expressway.
During the recent multi-billion-rupee overhaul of the Murree Expressway, three service areas were constructed at KM-17 (Pulgharan), KM-25 (Phari), and KM-35 (Khajoot). Each service area comprises public washrooms, a mosque, a small tuck shop, and a coffee shop.
However, instead of auctioning these rest areas through a proper competitive process, the field formation has been operating them through handpicked individuals for the past one year, allegedly in violation of rules and regulations, resulting in the alleged embezzlement of millions of rupees.
Sources informed that the tuck shops and coffee shops have been handed over to private individuals without following any transparent procedure, while the road authority is spending approximately Rs700,000 on each service area to maintain the public washrooms and mosques from the public exchequer.
It is pertinent to mention that similar rest and service areas on motorways across the country are leased to private companies by the NHA through competitive process. These arrangements not only generate substantial revenue for the authority but also ensure that the companies bear the operational and maintenance costs of public facilities.
However, in the case of the Murree Expressway—one of the country’s busiest tourism gateways, which witnesses heavy tourist traffic during the summer season—the service areas are allegedly being manipulated by certain officers of the road authority for personal gain.
When contacted, the concerned NHA Member, Hafiz Ahmed Bakash, said that the service areas were being operated under interim arrangements. However, he added that the authority has now requested the Finance Wing to dispose of them through a public auction and lease them to private firms.
“We are committed to providing the best facilities on the Murree Expressway to tourists in line with the directions of the Federal Minister for Communications,” he said.
Meanwhile, it is a matter of record that the Right of Way Section of the Finance Wing has repeatedly requested the relevant record to proceed with the auction process. However, the General Manager (IMDC) has allegedly been reluctant to provide the required documents to cause maximum delays.
It is worth noted here that in past the National Accountability Bureau had taken cognizance in a smiler matter when former member administration NHA Ali Sher Mehsud, who is currently serving as federal secretary communications were involved in running a service area on Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway through his hand picked contractor without auction.
