ISLAMABAD, May 25 Members of a National Assembly standing committee on Tuesday criticised the National Highway Authority (NHA) for its failure to complete various road projects, thereby making the Gwadar port virtually non-operational.

Expressing their dissatisfaction over the NHA's failure to connect Gwadar Port to major cities of the country and non-completion of “M-8 Roads Project”, the members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Ports and Shipping suggested that contracts should be awarded to National Logistic Cell (NLC) or Frontier Works Organization (FWO) or to any foreign company to get the projects completed in time.

A member of the committee, Syed Nasir Ali Shah of the PPP, told Dawn that the NHA officials had informed them that they would be able to complete the project by the year 2016. However, he said, the members were not ready to give too much time to the NHA.

“Enough is enough. We will inform Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani about the state of affairs in Balochistan,” he said, adding that if the government wanted to provide incentives to the people of Balochistan, then Gwadar port would have to be made fully operational soon.

Mr Shah, who has been appointed convener of a sub-committee to look into the matter, said the NHA came under the ministry of communications but its federal minister, Arbab Alamgir Khan, did not turn up for the meeting.

Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Babar Ghouri told the committee, headed by PPP's Sher Mohammad Baloch, that Gwadar port was not completely functional mainly due to the NHA's inability to complete the road projects. He said the NHA had so far succeeded in carpeting only 193km of the road whereas some 700km remained to be carpeted. He categorically stated that the port could not be made fully operational and functional till the completion of M-8 Road Project.

On the occasion, the NHA officials briefed the members about the progress of various road projects. The NHA officials told the committee members that 892-km-long Gwadar-Khushab-Rato Dero Road could not be completed due to “non-allocation” of the required funds and poor law and order situation in the area. They informed the committee that the NHA required Rs29 billion to carpet 700-km portion of roads linking the port to major cities of the country.

Later, the members formed a sub-committee comprising Mohammad Umar Gorgage of the PPP, Shaukatullah, an independent MNA from Bajaur Agency, Nauman Islam Sheikh of the PPP and Nosheen Saeed of the PML-Q as members with Syed Nasir Ali Shah of the PPP as its convener.

The sub-committee has been given the task to prepare a final report in the light of the briefing by the NHA officials on the issue. The NHA officials are expected to give briefing to the sub-committee members on Saturday.