SUKKUR, Dec 20: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Friday dismissed the charge of horse-trading in the formation of PML-Q government in Sindh, as was being orchestrated by some elements in the press.

He termed these allegations as unfounded and politically-motivated and remarked that people had acted according to their conscience in the formation of government in Sindh.

The prime minister was replying to questions of newsmen at the end of a briefing by general manager National Highway Authority about the Jacobabad-Jaffarabad bypass project.

To a question about differences in the PML-Q, Jamali said that the party stood united and whatever the differences were, had been removed.

The prime minister said that he had great regard for party president Mian Azhar and declined to add further.

To a question about the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s decision not to support him at the time vote of confidence on Dec 30, the prime minister said that he would soon hold talks with the MMA leaders. He said he was confident of securing their support.

To another question about the situation created in the Sindh Assembly for the arrest of MQM MPA Younus Khan by the police, the prime minister said he had taken notice of the matter and directed the authorities to ensure that actions were taken strictly in accordance with law.

When asked about his opinion on Kalabagh Dam and Greater Thal Canal projects, the prime minister said that his government would undertake all those projects which were in the national interest.

Earlier, attending the briefing on the proposed Jacobabad-Jaffarabad bypass road, about 10km from Jacobabad, the prime minister directed the National Highway Authority to devote major attention to neglected areas of the country, in an effort to bring them at par with developed areas.

He said the NHA should give special emphasis to quality and maintenance of road networks.

The prime minister said that his government would give top priority to construction of road networks in the far-flung areas of the country, specially Balochistan.

He said there was a dire need to expand the road network in Balochistan to accelerate socio-economic progress in the province.

Jamali observed that new roads would not only give a boost to economic progress but would also provide job opportunities to the unemployed.

In his briefing, General Manager NHA Sindh, Mian Abdul Haq, said that the 20km long bypass would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs263 million.

The prime minister was informed that the project was at design stage and tenders for it would be called very soon.

The bypass will be constructed near Umrani Mor and will facilitate the Indus Highway traffic between Sindh and Balochistan, the NHA GM said.

He informed the prime minister that the project was likely to be completed without foreign assistance.

He said the NHA was giving priority to highway projects in Balochistan due to the growing importance of the area and also because the road network of Balochistan was being linked with the N-5 project of the NHA in Sindh and Punjab through Kashmore, Kandhkot, Rohri and Ubauro.

Jamali directed the NHA authorities to provide safe and uninterrupted links to Balochistan with other parts of the country, through Sindh and Punjab.

He also asked the NHA to speed up its work in other parts of Balochistan.

He said funds were no problem for his government and maximum money would be provided to complete road projects.—APP