PESHAWAR: As an important development to execute the Swat Motorway phase-II on ground, the provincial government on Wednesday signed the concession agreement of the project.

The signing ceremony was held with Chief Minister Mahmood Khan as chief guest wherein high-ups of Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority (PKHA) and the concerned construction company signed the concession agreement, according to a statement issued here.

Adviser to CM on communications and works Riaz Khan, chief secretary Dr Shehzad Bangash and other concerned high-ups attended the function.

The 80km long Swat Motorway phase-II will be constructed on Public-Private Partnership mode at a total cost of Rs58 billion, including the land acquisition. The said motorway will start from Chakdara and culminate at Madyan Fatehpur.

Initially, this motorway will have four lanes extendable to six lanes in the future. The corridor will have a total of nine interchanges, including Chakdara interchange, Shomozai, Barikot, Mingora, Kanju, Malam Jabba-University of Swat, Sher Palam, Matta-Khwazakhela and Madyan-Fatehpur interchanges.

Moreover, eight main bridges will be constructed at different sites of the Swat River. Besides, four rest areas will also be part of the project whereas link highways will be provided where needed.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister termed the Swat Motorway a flagship project for sustainable development of the area and said that this project on completion would boost tourism and trade activities besides providing quality transportation facilities to the people and create employment opportunities for the locals.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2022