ADB to give $300m loan for roads

Published November 21, 2004

MANILA, Nov 20: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan package worth 301.2 million dollars to improve road connections from Pakistan's Afghan border to the southern ports of Karachi, it said on Saturday.

The project will improve access to the ports and the Pakistani market for landlocked Afghanistan and the republics of Central Asia, the ADB said in a statement from its headquarters here.

"With stability returning to Afghanistan and growing bilateral trade with Pakistan, the road corridor to be improved under the project will bring significant opportunities for North West Frontier Province," ADB transport specialist Hasan Masood was quoted as saying.

The project will upgrade 212 kilometres of provincial highways and about 700 kilometres of rural access roads.

About 310 kilometres of national highways, including new access to Afghanistan, and infrastructure at two border points will be built or improved.

The ADB noted that the closest ports to Afghanistan and most of the Central Asian republics are the existing facilities in Karachi and the port under construction at nearby Gwadar. Most traffic from the region uses the national highways to access the ports.-AFP

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.