LAHORE : The Federal Minister for Communication, Railways and Works,
Lieutenant General Jawed Ashraf (Retd) has expressed the hope that new Transport
policy will soon be out, as its draft is in final stages.
Speaking at the "First International Road Transport Conference" arranged
by the Institution of Engineers Pakistan (IEP) here on Tuesday, the Minister
said that the draft would be placed before the cabinet for approval within a
month.
He said that the government was encouraging investment, providing better
roads, apart from further improving rails and air transportation system. He said
road network, no doubt is of paramount importance for social and economic
development of any country, but all other modes of transportation should also be
developed. He said that one should not be allowed to die and other unjustifiably
funded. He stressed the need for assessing the economic feasibility before
building any road, as it is an economic investment.
The Minister regretted that Railways was neglected in the past and one
year back, it was also at the verge of total collapse. He alleged that a
six-lane motorway was built at a cost of Rs 35 billion, which was lying almost
unused. It was not even generating revenue for its repair needs and now the
government was thinking to reduce its toll tax, he said.
He claimed that the National Highways Authority was facing debt of Rs 72
billion, due to lavish spending on road sector. He said that we should ensure
integrated development in all transportation sectors, while in the past roads
were developed only in 50 miles corridors.
Jawed Ashraf also stressed the need for maintenance of roads, and said
that allocation of funds should be judicious. He also asked the engineers to
ensure quality in their work. "We should ponder why buildings of British regime
were still in good condition, while buildings constructed by our engineers were
not of that standard."
The minister called for carrying out study on the possibility of Inland
River system for transportation, and said it was cheaper and cost effective. He
said that he had regards for the engineers and technologists and firmly believed
that the nation could not progress without the invaluable contribution from
engineers.
APP ADDS: The Federal Minister said that the draft proposals of the new
transport policy have been prepared and it would be presented to the cabinet at
the end of the month for approval.
He also clarified that 4,000 employees of the Postal Service are not
being retrenched.
Earlier, M P Gangwani, president IEP, and E.I. Johri, secretary -general,
welcomed the chief guest and apprised him of the objectives of the organisation.
He said efforts are being made to build new roads arid maintain the existing
road network to bring them up to reasonable operational condition.
He exhorted the engineers to eliminate corruption in order to ensure
better utilisation of resources. He stressed that maintenance procedures needed
to be revised and brought up to the present day expectations.
He said he wanted to make two points. Firstly, engineers should produce
roads of the highest possible quality without any compromises. Secondly, for the
development of rural areas, attention is increasingly required towards
development of the rural roads, especially farm-to-market roads.
