ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed on Monday completion of infrastructure projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor by the end of 2017.

Presiding over a meeting held to review progress of work on infrastructure and energy projects under the CPEC, he stressed the need for mobilising resources and completing financial and technical formalities.

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal and secretaries of Water and Power and Planning and Development briefed the prime minister on various projects.

They said that Sukkur-Multan, Gojra-Khanewal and Lahore-Abdul Hakim sections of the Peshawar-Karachi motorway were ready for groundbreaking.

The meeting reviewed progress on upgradation of Havelian-Thakot road project and other sections of Karakoram Highway. It also discussed the Gwadar East Bay Expressway, Mughal­kot-DI Khan Road and other road projects in Balochistan.

The prime minister said the completion of road projects in Balochistan under the CPEC would be a gamer-changer for the region.

He was informed that the Attabad tunnel in Gilgit would be ready for inauguration in the last week of next month.

Mr Sharif directed completion of work on new Gwadar International Airport in the shortest possible time.

He was informed about upgradation projects of 10 railway stations on the Peshawar-Karachi main line.

The prime minister directed quality upgradation of the stations, provision of maximum facilities to passengers and arrangements for using the station buildings for economic and commercial activities.

In a related development, Chairman of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Communications Dawood Khan said the communications ministry and the National Highway Authority had failed to satisfy the committee on CPEC routes.

He directed the communications secretary and NHA chairman to submit details of block allocations and funds earmarked under the PSDP for the central, western and eastern routes of the project.

He asked them to submit details of joint territories of the three routes as well as the entire CPEC route and names of three cities between Gwa­dar and Kashghar in the next meeting of the committee.

Communications Secretary Shahid Ashraf Tarrar informed the committee that the central CPEC route would be completed in 15 years. Work on central, eastern and western routes was in progress. The existing road network would be basically considered as the central route, he said.

Mr Tarrar said Rs5 billion had been earmarked for the Havelian-Thakot project which would be one section of the central route. Feasibility of the route up to Burhan and Hasanabdal was yet to be completed and efforts would be made to link the existing road network with Gwadar Port, he added.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2015

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