WE hear a lot about progress and mega projects undertaken by various governments over the years in Pakistan. Certainly, motorways are great. We started with Lahore-Islamabad motorway, and then came Islamabad-Peshawar, followed by many more. It gives our expats, either returning or on vacations, a great sense of pride as they feel they are watching progress. So many cars, including four-wheelers as well as buses and trucks, further bolster the impression of growth and improved quality of life. But is it really so?

The building of motorways itself cost tens of billions of dollars that were borrowed from banks and international lending agencies. These loans have to be repaid; with interest, of course. Is this repayment not what our biggest national challenge happens to be?

After building the motorways, we need to recover at least part of the cost from the motorists by charging them tolls. To increase the toll income, we encourage the motorists to use the motorways to their maximum capacity. We encourage them to buy vehicles, which, in turn, makes them buy more fuel, which means more imports for which we need more foreign exchange. Is it not what we are desperately trying to control these days?

The repayment of loans and ever increasing import bill are not matched by our export earnings and remittances. That forces us to borrow even more, and that brings the value of our currency down, causing runaway inflation and enormous hardship for the people. Is it not what we are grappling with right now?

Just try to find simple answers to these simple questions, and you would know the kind of progress that we have in the country. Things might have been different if we had improved and expanded our railway system for inter-city transportation, upgraded the pre-motorway GT Road and other such roads, and linked more villages to nearby cities. Even the borrowed money we squandered over the last 30 years would have benefitted the people and the country.

Politicians are continuing to promise the moon, but we, the people, do not need the moon; we need facilitated life on the planet. We do not need bullet trains to move from one city to the other. All we need is an efficient public transport system running on metalled roads for the daily commute from our homes to our respective workplaces. Period.

Prof (Dr) S. Arif Kazmi
Karachi

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2023