ISLAMABAD – The government of Azerbaijan has refused to fund Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway project, it was informed by the Chairman National Highway Authority Sheheryar Sultan to the Senate Standing Committee on Communications.
He informed the committee members that the said motorway was divided into five portions for its early completion and three out of them are expected to be funded by the Islamic Development Bank. He however informed the committee members that NHA was very close to cut an investment deal with Azerbaijan for its investment in rest of the two portions and the proposal regarding mode of investment was also shared with them after through communication.
He stated that at last moment their respective department said it could not make such a huge investment in road infrastructure sector because their priority areas were real estate and petroleum sectors. Chairman NHA further said that the land acquisition for said project was in process and they were expecting that it would be completed soon
He said that the Sindh government is ready to pay the land acquisition cost but demanded a letter of comfort from NHA that the federal government will give back the same amount once the PC-I in this regard would be revised. When questioned by committee members regarding funds embezzlements by two deputy commissioners, the NHA chairman said National Accountability Bureau was working over the scam and a considerable amount was recovered as well.
Meanwhile, the committee chairman Senator Pervaiz Rasheed expressed his displeasure over stoppage of SMS service on motorway toll plazas. He pointed out that the service was discontinued and directed NHA to check the reasons behind its stoppage.
The committee also observed that there was no revenue increase of NHA as they maintained that the hundred percent increase shown in the data was just because of hundred percent increase in toll tax rates. It is pertinent to mention here that as per the data shared by NHA, it was collecting Rs32 billion annually and now they had collected Rs64 billion last year. On the other side, Senator Saifullah Abbro once again criticised on the procurement process of the dualisation of Rajhanpur-Dera Ismail Khan project.
Chairman NHA Shyerar Sultan informed the committee that the project was not awarded yet but the NHA executive board had given its contingent approval after fulfilling all the legal formalities. He however maintained that the transparency would be ensured in all stages of procurement and everything would be dealt according to the rules and regulations. Senator Abbro suggested to form a sub-committee for further discussion on the matter. Chairman Senator Pervaiz Rasheed principally agreed to form the committee but the names of the convener and members were not decided till conclusion of committee proceedings.
