ISLAMABAD: National Highway Authority (NHA) chairman Shahid Ashraf Tarrar has said that public-private partnership in the communications sector will speed up the construction process and ensure rapid progress in the country.

He was addressing the signing ceremony of a Build-Operate-Transfer (Bot) agreement between the NHA and the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) for reconstruction of the Habibabad flyover and redesigning and beautification of Lahore-Islamabad Motorway (M-2). The ceremony was held at the NHA headquarters.

Mr Tarrar said that construction of the Habibabad flyover and renovation of M-2 would not only open a new chapter of progress in the communications sector, but would also resolve longstanding traffic problems and boost trade, tourism, industry and agriculture.

He said that Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (M-9) and other mega projects would be launched in near future.

The FWO director general said that executing construction projects under Bot would keep wheels of the progress moving even during tough financial situation. He said construction of the Karakoram Highway (N-35) in collaboration with China had been a landmark achievement of the FWO, adding that the organisation’s recent services in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and other parts of the country had been noteworthy.

Earlier, the Bot agreement was signed between the NHA and Habibabad Operation Management Engineering Company (Pvt) Ltd [a joint venture of the FWO and Mohammad Ayub and Brothers set up exclusively for the project).

Under the agreement, a bridge will be constructed in place of the old one which is in dilapidated condition, narrow and has no access roads. The new bridge will be wider and safer. The duration of the agreement is 10 years and the project’s cost is Rs831 million.

Similarly, the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway will be carpeted and renovated in accordance with international standards and an electronic toll system will be installed under the agreement.—APP