Federal Minister for Communications, Privatization and Board of Investment, Abdul Aleem Khan, on Thursday directed that an inquiry be conducted into the matter of when and where safety fences on Motorways across the country were broken or stolen and a report be submitted within a week after determining those responsible for this.
He said theft or damage to protective fences along Motorways will be intolerable in future and the concerned authorities will be held responsible for it.
While chairing a briefing session of the National Highway Authority (NHA), Abdul Aleem Khan said the obstacles in the construction of the Islamabad Motorway from Kharian should be removed and it should be made six lanes instead of four so that the future requirement of the citizens can also be kept in view.
He said there can be no compromise on the safety and security standards on Motorways and in this regard the department of NHA will have to make a permanent and coherent policy to implement.
The Minister also directed to complete the repair work on all the Motorways of the country at a fast pace. He called for making the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) within a week for establishing new interchanges from the Motorways.
He directed that the NHA should make a uniform policy for all and put it on the website. Abdul Aleem Khan while declaring the N-25 Highway from Quetta in Balochistan to Karachi as the top priority said that this project is very important for the country and therefore it must be completed as soon as possible.
In this high-level meeting of the NHA, the Federal Secretary for Communications and the Chairman of the NHA briefed the Federal Minister for Communications about the pace of ongoing projects in various provinces and the work completed so far while various policy issues including providing access to Islamabad Airport from the M-1 Motorway were also on the agenda.
The Minister was also briefed about the priority projects of the National Highway Authority and budget allocation for various projects and final approval was also taken from him on important issues.