February 12, 2008	Tuesday	Safar 04 ,1429

KARACHI, Feb 11: President Pervez Musharraf inaugurated the south-bound carriageway of the Rs13 billion Lyari Expressway and the Rs551 million Karachi Tools, Dyes and Moulds Centre on Monday.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony held in this regard at the Governor’s House, President Musharraf said that the mega expressway project would bring about two positive changes in the lives of people. “It will ease traffic congestion and provide a non-stop travel facility from the Karachi Port to the Super Highway. And it will also provide decent and planned residential facilities to settlers along the Lyari River embankment who resided there for decades in pathetic conditions,” he said.

The president recalled his school days and said: “While going to Saint Patrick’s School from Nazimabad I used to see people living in shanty towns on either side of the Lyari River. I am happy that these people have been shifted to decent and clean residential areas in three planned townships, where all the basic amenities of life including schools, playgrounds, parks and other facilities are available,” he noted.

He said that the project worth Rs13 billion, including Rs8.22 billion for the expressway and Rs5 billion as the resettlement cost, was “unique” in that it would cut travel time to less than half an hour.

He congratulated the former minister for communications, Shamim Siddiqui, the National Highway Authority and the Frontier Works Organisation for completing the mega projects of the Northern Bypass and the Lyari Expressway.

President Musharraf asked the NHA to expedite the work and complete the north-bound carriageway of the project. He said that Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan had informed him that encroachments had been removed from two places while the third one would be removed soon.

Highway projects

He said that work was in progress on the Sehwan-Ratodero Highway besides other roads in Sindh and the 960-kilometre-long Gawadar-Ratodero highway project (M9). The Gawadar-Ratodero Highway would serve as an inter-provincial link, connecting Balochistan to Sindh, the NWFP and Punjab via the National Highway.

He appreciated the performance of City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal for undertaking development work and completing signal-free corridors in the metropolis which would reduce travel time from Defence to Nazimabad to 20 minutes.

He said that Karachi had never seen such a vast development activity in its history as witnessed during the last five to six years.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Abdul Qadir Halepota, Federal Communications Minister Barrister Habib-ur-Rehman, Karachi Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal and cabinet members were present at the inaugural ceremony held at the Governor’s House. —APP