National Highway Authority Ministry of Communications PRESS RELEASE FEDERAL MINITER FOR COMMUNICATION ATTENDS BRIEFING AT NHA Islamabad December 04, 2008: The Federal Minister for Communication Dr. Arbab Alamgir Khan has said that the process of awarding contracts for construction projects need to be made more transparent and wide ranging so that new contractors could also get a chance to participate in the process of national development. He made these remarks while attending a high level briefing at the National Highway Authority office here in Islamabad today. The Minister of State Imtiaz Safdar Warriach, Parliamentary Secretary for Communication Ch. Saeed Iqbal and Secretary Communication Sharif Ahmed accompanied him on the occasion. The minister said that Pakistan’s economic and social development could not be achieved without having a modern and efficient road infrastructure. He said the government was committed to upgrade the road network according to the global standards. He stressed the need to accelerate the pace of work on mega construction projects so that those could be completed in time. He further asked to expedite work on Lyari Expressway and said that a comprehensive policy be devised for construction of interchanges along the motorways. The Minister of State Imtiaz Safdar Warriach termed the safety of road users as the top priority and said necessary design changes, whenever required, must be made to enhance the safety of travelers. He also asked for an early completion of Lahore-Gujranwala section. Chairman National Highway Authority Altaf Ahmed Ch explained to the participants the administrative and financial aspects of the authority. He apprised the minister about progress on different road projects and said that NHA was working to provide people a reliable and world class road infrastructure. He said that more than 60 projects worth Rs. 124 billion were underway in different parts of the country. He informed the participants that work on Lyari Expressway was near completion. He said that the authority’s highest portfolio was in the province of Balochistan. He said that excavation work in the Lowari Tunnel project would be completed in the next few weeks and the project would be opened for traffic by 2010. He said the up-gradation of Karakoram highway was a priority project which was being completed with the help of China. He said that work on Mansera-Naran road was underway while the interchange at Khanqah Dogran was duly completed. .