ISLAMABAD, Feb 16: President Asif Ali Zardari asked the government on Monday to make public the report of inquiry into the collapse of Karachi’s Shershah bridge.

Speaking at a briefing at the presidency on the performance of the National Highway Authority, the president said that for the sake of transparency in mega projects it was important that the public should have access to complete information about all NHA projects, including the award of contracts, contractors’ background and past history, project completion schedule and the status of each ongoing project.

He said: “With this end in view, the inquiry report into Shershah bridge collapse should also be placed on website of the NHA.”

The Shershah bridge collapsed over two years ago, just three weeks before its formal inauguration, causing some deaths and huge loss to the national exchequer.

The president advised the NHA to explore the possibility of engaging contractors from South Korea, China and other countries working on infrastructure projects in Pakistan for building roads and highways on private-public partnership basis.

The meeting was informed that the road network in the country was of 260,000 kms, of which the NHA network was only about 12,000 kms.

Minister for Communications Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin and Planning Commission’s Deputy Chairman Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali attended the meeting.