Sindh slams high toll tax on unfinished motorway

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to inaugurate the first phase of the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway (M-9) at Nooriabad tomorrow, but the Sindh government has expressed its displeasure over hasty development of the road, saying it is nothing but eyewash as the highway has only been repaired, not really upgraded to the status of a motorway.

The provincial authorities have approached the federal authorities over motorists being charged a high toll tax on the Super Highway, which, they say, is being given a mere facelift.

Speaking to media persons at the Sindh Assembly, Transport Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said the road between Karachi and Hyderabad could not be considered a motorway as it was still the decades-old Super Highway  that had undergone repairs.

He said users of the highway had been made to pay an exorbitant toll tax as if they were using a proper motorway. 

The minister described charging the high toll tax an illegal act, saying the provincial authorities reserved the right to protest to the federal government.

He said the toll tax rates ranging from Rs80 to 800 were illegal and tantamount to extorting money from the public.

He said upgraded Super Highway did not look like motorways being built in the upcountry, such Lahore- Multan motorway. 

Earlier in the day, he added, people had parked their vehicles on the Super Highway to protest against the high toll tax.