Islamabad:
The center and Sindh on Saturday came face to face on the much-delayed Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway project together with the rebuilding of the Karachi Hyderabad highway, where the latter accuses the former of pulling his feet when it comes to development projects in the province.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, who approached his post-budget news conference in Karachi on Saturday, said, “Sindh is not a colony in the federation as the province does not get its full share from the center”.
By putting a long list of complaints against the center, the chief minister said the first RS30 billion was awarded to the Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway, and now the award was reduced to RS15 billion. “If the trend persists, this project will not end for the next 12 years.”
Comment on the Minister of Chief’s comments expressed Federal Minister of Communication Abdul Aleem Khan that he, as a federal minister, takes responsibility for the past year, but does not want to comment on the passivity of previous governments regarding the construction of SUKKUR, Hyderabad and Karachi motorways.
He said the construction of Karachi-Hyderabad-Sukkur motorways would begin this year and added that the Islamic Development Bank has expressed the will to finance the project, while the final decision on the loan approval is expected in September this year after its board meeting, a press release issued here said.
He emphasized the company’s importance of connecting Karachi Harbor to the national motorway network and said that without this connection, the use of the motorway would not be useful.
He pointed out that various political parties, including PPP, remained in power, but unfortunately several years were wasted due to the lack of initiating these critical infrastructure projects such as highways in Karachi-Hyderabad-Sukkur.
Abdul Aleem Khan confirmed the federal government’s obligation to construct not only the Succur-Hyderabad motorway, but also the Hyderabad-Karachi section, while the goal is to end the entire route within two years.
