Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved PC-1 of Rs 23.566 billion for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the highway network, which was damaged during the 2010 floods, Federal Minister for Communications Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan said on Friday. Presiding over the 24th National Highway Council meeting on Friday, Arbab Alamgir said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will also provide $185 million for reconstruction of damaged roads. The minister told participants that the floods had caused a loss of Rs 858 billion to the national economy as transport and communication sectors alone suffered losses of Rs 113 billion.
He said the NHA is facing a financial crunch and funds provided by the government were insufficient to meet the overall requirement of the authority. “By June 30, 2011, contractors pending liabilities accumulated to Rs 13.375 billion,” the press release said.Participants of the meeting reviewed the funds utilisation during the previous financial year. In light of the prime minister’s direction, NHC decided that priority will be given to projects in which 60 to 70 percent of the progress has been achieved. Moreover, projects of essential nature should be initiated. Members of the Council wished to undertake several projects on Build-operate-Transfer (BOT) and Private Public Partnership (PPP) basis.
