The Senate Standing Committee on Communication has shown serious concerns over the incomplete ongoing road projects while observing that each project only gets 10 to 15 percent of funds annually, which causes delays in their completion, price escalation, and disputes amongst the National Highway Authority (NHA) and contractors.
The committee met on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Senator Prince Ahmed Umer Ahmedzai and examined in detail the progress of various ongoing and completed projects, total revenue generated by the NHA, and other administrative matters.
The committee members showed reservations about the persistent absence of the minister from the meetings and said that perhaps more than busy the minister seems uninterested in the resolution of problems faced by the general public.
The committee also took briefings on the progress, repair, and renewal of work on projects affected by the devastating floods last year and inquired about the preparedness for floods this year.
The committee was informed that the NHA along with NESPAK is working on a complete novel structure and alignment of bridges affected by floods. The committee was apprised that the NESPAK will furnish the structural design and NHA will give a presentation to the committee in the next meeting on the realignment of Pinjra Bridge.
The said project will take around 2 years to complete. The committee was apprised that a complete hydrogel study of the NHA network is required to address floods in the country. It was also briefed that the NHA restored the roads affected by the flood.
The committee also received a briefing on the details of revenue generated by NHA since January 2019 including toll tax and other sources mentioning annually, monthly break along with its utilization.
Toll earnings
It was apprised that a total of Rs. 135.488 billion was earned through toll revenue (National Highways & Motorways for the period of January 2019 to June 2023). Out of the total earnings, motorways earned Rs. 44.376 billion and National Highways earned Rs. 91.111 billion. The committee was told that the Rs. 112.187 billion were utilized on maintenance.
While taking a briefing on the details of ongoing projects inaugurated by the prime minister since January 1, 2023, till date, the committee showed concern over the incomplete ongoing projects.
The committee was of the view that this delay causes a great loss to the country as the NHA has to pay the liability of escalated rates to the contractor. The committee chairman sought details of all the delayed projects in the last 5 years and the cost of liability of each project paid to the contractor in the next meeting.
