ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Saturday said that the unprecedented infrastructure building activity under the National Highway Authority (NHA) road portfolio was underway in the country which would change the entire landscape of Pakistan from Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir to Karachi and Gwadar.
The Prime Minister said that these development projects including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects ran through all the provinces.
The whole country would benefit from the fruits of this gigantic structural development activity, being underway across the length and breadth of the country, he added. The Prime Minister was chairing a high level meeting in which he was given a detailed briefing on the NHA Road portfolio projects, said a PM House press release.
He was informed that an investment of $1 billion from private sector in the road infrastructure projects would be achieved by the end of September 2015 and the overall communication network construction activity would contribute about 1 percent to 1.5 percent in the GDP. It was also informed that a total of 1,272 kilometres would be added in the existing Motorways network with the completion of under construction and proposed projects.
The Prime Minister directed for completion of all projects by December 2017, other than those projects scheduled for earlier completion.
He also directed for preparing comprehensive plans to extend Pakistan’s road infrastructure for connectivity with the Central Asia in the first phase and later, expanding the road links to the South Asia.
The Prime Minister directed the NHA to prepare informative packages highlighting the road construction activity and the linkages created for the areas which were previously not connected to the Highway and Motorway networks.
The Prime Minister appreciated the pace and quality of the work of NHA and directed to maintain the international standards in the quality of road construction.
