Special Relief For MNAs is Back! – No Toll Tax

The National Assembly members’ highway toll tax exemption has been resumed by the present administration (MNAs). It was made public at a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Communications.

ISLAMABAD:
Recently National Assembly’s members have been spared from paying tolls on highways and motorways Again, according to information provided to the Senate Standing Committee on Communications on Monday.

The commission was informed that although the immunity for legislators had been removed in the past, it has now been reinstated.

The chairman of the National Highway Authority (NHA) briefed the meeting, which was presided over by the committee’s chairman Senator Prince Omar Ahmadzai, about the damage done to the roads as a result of the recent rains and floods in Balochistan, which had never experienced such intense rains and floods.

The panel also fully considered the topic of the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway project.

At the conference, Senator Saifullah Abro said that the recent rise in the toll charge on highways from PKR160 to more than PKR1,000 had rendered it difficult for a poor individual to use a roadway. He said, “An impoverished person would be even unable to purchase a hot beverage inside the service area on the highway.”

Furthermore, it is strange considering that he talked about the pricey beverage that neither the senator nor the committee brought up the reinstatement of this exemption during the meeting. The public has also condemned the administration on social sites for this recurring exemption.

The NHA officials said that 8% will be added to M-9 and Sialkot Motorway tolls, while all concession agreements regarding toll payments contained a 10% yearly increase.

Using the same tax revenue, according to Senator Kamil Ali Agha, the toll-collecting roadways and motorways should be renovated.

It was challenging to operate a car on M-2 since it required maintenance, which was not done despite the toll tax revenue collection of billions of rupees.

The panel demanded information on contractual arrangements, maintenance costs, and toll plaza revenue.

According to Senator Danesh Kumar, construction upon that 2KMs on M-8 was stalled, and despite the issue being brought up in every conference, nothing was done about it. During this point, the chairperson of NHA announced that M-8 will be turned on in the next 48 hours.

The committee was told by IG National Highways and Motorway Police Khalid Mahmood that an animal was to blame for the mishap on M-9 and that fencing M-9 wasn’t feasible since barriers could only be put on motorways and M-9 wasn’t a highway nor a superhighway.

The IG added that highway police were being recruited and that Balochistan’s 100 kilometres had been subject to enforcement. Additionally, N-25 and N-10 are emphasised, and the hiring process was ongoing. Sen. Kamil Ali Agha said that highways and motorways were always walled in following international traffic regulations.

The fencing of the Hyderabad-Karachi Motorways is problematic, according to NHA Chairman, as fences are frequently stolen. “FIRs were also filed in this due consideration, and he stated the issue about the fence thieves was brought up with the local police station,”.

An in-depth discussion on the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway project was also conducted by the commission.

According to the information provided, all procedures had been followed to the letter, an Italian entity had signed a tender, while documentation also had been acquired under this matter from the Italian government and the Pakistani Embassy in Italy.

The Karachi-Peshawer Motorway had a length of approximately 522 KM, of which 1216 KM had been finished and 306 KM needed to be linked to M-6. On it would also be built 15 interchanges, 10 service areas, 12 rest areas, 6 flyovers, and a 61-kilometre service road. M-6 would travel through the seven districts of Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Khairpur, Nowshera Feroze, Benazirabad, and Matiari.

Senator Saifullah Abro stated this, stating that a corporation was first dismissed for not meeting the conditions but was later requalified. “This is beyond our comprehension, and information concerning this firm ought to be presented before the committee,”

The Hakla DI Khan Motorway included 22 toll plazas and 11 interchanges, according to information provided in response to a query presented by Senator Saifullah Abro. Frontier Works Organization (FWO) had owned and operated these facilities since July 2022.

A three-month contract for Rs. 75 million each month was issued after the motorway’s to be launching in January. It was administered by General Manager NHA from April 10 to July, and a monthly income of Rs65 million was generated.

A total of 840,352 trees had also been planted on the Multan-Sukkur Motorway, Pindi Bhatian, and the Lahore Motorway to Abdul Hakeem, according to information provided to the committee on the planting of trees beside roads and highways.

Comparable to this, 600,000 plants were also planted from Lahore to Islamabad, 84,000 trees had been planted on the Hazara Motorway, 65,000 plants were put on the Sukkur to Jacobabad N-65, and approximately 400,000 plants were planted on the Karachi to Hyderabad M-9 Motorway.

Senator Hidayatullah brought up an issue of public concern about the road accident caused by the absence of fences on the Multan-Sukkar Motorway during the Senate meeting on August 17. A briefing on the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway project was also covered in depth.

Senators Kamil Ali Agha, Saifullah Abro, Abida Muhammad Azeem, Dinesh Kumar, Muhammad Akram, Ahmed Khan, and Hidayatullah, as well as the Secretary and Chairperson of the National highway authority (NHA), the Additional Secretary of the NHA, and the IG of the Motorway Police were present at the meeting.

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