Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed on Tuesday that the newly inaugurated Sukkur-Hyderabad (M-6) motorway project will be completed within the next 30 months.
He was addressing a ceremony after he laid the foundation stone of the 306-kilometre-long M-6 motorway project.
The Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway is the last part of the Peshawar-Karachi motorway after which all major and important cities of Pakistan will be connected by a motorway.
The project is expected to be completed in 30 months under a public private partnership.
The six-lane motorway will comprise 15 interchanges, a large bridge over the Sindh river, 82 bridges over canals, 19 underpass bridges, six flyovers, and 10 service areas.
The M-6 will pass through the districts of Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Matiari, Benazirabad, Naushahro Feroze, Khairpur, and Sukkur. Service areas and rest areas will be provided at every 50km on both sides of the highway.
During his speech, the premier said the development of road infrastructure connecting all provinces of the country, particularly the disadvantaged areas, was crucial for "strengthening of the national economy".
He said connecting the deprived areas, including Balochistan and Sindh, would pave the way for economic and social development and create new business opportunities.
The PM said it was a matter of satisfaction for the coalition government to restore construction work of the M-6 motorway, saying it faced "a prolonged delay" due to the inefficiency of the previous government.
He emphasised ensuring the quality and standard of the M-6 motorway no less than rest of the motorway network in the country.
He directed the relevant authorities to complete the public-private project within the stipulated period of time.
The prime minister encouraged Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal to promote further projects on public-private projects to achieve the goals of development and prosperity.
He also called for improving road connectivity from Balochistan to the up country in order to connect the significant Gwadar port and bring the province into the mainstream national economy.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah regretted that the apathy of the previous government delayed the construction of M-6 for over three years and emphasised that 25,000 jobs related to the project needed to be given to locals.
He drew the attention of the government towards the need for the dewatering of flood-hit areas.
Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khurshid Shah said the M-6 motorway would prove as a milestone in strengthening the economy by promoting intra-country trade activities.
Federal Minister for Communications Asad Mehmood said the construction of the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway was a long-standing demand of the people of Sindh province.
Federal Secretary for Communications Capt (retd) Khurram Agha said the government would provide only Rs9.5 billion and the construction would be carried out on a public-private basis.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Sindh chapter Rashid Mehmood Soomro said Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) would unitedly work towards carrying out projects of development across the country in the the interest of the public.
Federal Minister for Planning and Development Dr Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, members of the provincial assembly, and officials of the Sindh government attended the event.
Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway will accelerate economic activity: Marriyum
Earlier, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb had called the ground breaking of the Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway "an important development" towards the fulfilment of former premier Nawaz Sharif's "dream of connecting the entire country through motorways".
In a statement on Tuesday, she said the completion of this project will provide modern, comfortable and fast travelling facilities to the people. Besides avoiding accidents, the traffic pressure on the GT road will reduce as a result of this project, she said.
She said the completion of the project will accelerate economic activities in the country and greatly facilitate traders, industrialists and farmers to transport their products.
Aurangzeb said the construction of excellent road infrastructure will increase the speed of development, which will have a positive impact on the country's economy
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