LAHORE, March 11: The United Nations and other authorities which have stakes in Afghanistan and Central Asia have been suggested to develop Pakistan-Afghanistan road links for it will serve their cause better.
This was stated by Federal Railways and Communication Minister Javed Ashraf while talking to reporters after opening a seminar on logistics and transport here on Monday.
The minister said Afghan authorities had also agreed to developing/repairing the Chaman-Kandahar Road for most of Afghan trade would be executed through Pakistan. He said Japan and Germany had also been requested to extend grants for the development of Peshawar-Torkham and Peshawar-Jalalabad-Kabul roads. He stressed the need for making the roads dual carriageway.
He, however, hastened to add that so far no decision had been taken about which road (Chaman-Kandahar or Torkham-Kabul) would be built first.
Earlier, the minister told the seminar participants that the government was planning a ring road around Peshawar and making the Peshawar-Torkham Road a dual carriageway to secure maximum share in trade between Central Asian States and Europe.
A dryport had been established at Chaman while the Gwadar port was also being built with this perception in mind, he said, adding phase-I of the port would be completed in three years.
He stressed the need for linking the RCD and the Indus Highways with Gwadar so that China could also execute its international trade through Pakistan. He said 75 per cent work on the Indus Highway, which would reduce about 400km distance between Karachi and Peshawar, had been completed.
The minister urged the participants to give their recommendations about bringing all means of transport under one ministry. “So far rail and road transports are being handled by the communication ministry, while aviation is being managed by the defence ministry,” he said.
He replied in negative when a reporter asked whether he had presented the proposal to the cabinet too.
Answering a question about giving all railway booking agencies to one firm (PRACS), he defended the step saying it was aimed at ending complaints about double booking of seats. The PRACS was also giving more profit to the institution than was being earned through civil agencies, he said.
He said rail fares for air-conditioned coaches would be increased at the end of the winter when the ACs would start functioning. The fares had been reduced at the start of the winter.
He also defended the decision of increasing charges for returning tickets, saying it was necessary to discourage the elements who used to withhold the tickets till the last moments in the hope of overcharging the needy persons.
When asked the decision would also hit the genuine customers, he said the passengers had been given a relief in the shape of better coaches and service and improved timings.