• Ministry says highway authority’s planning and design wings are being strengthened
• Committee members express concern over poor highway conditions and delays in road projects

ISLAMABAD: Special Secre­ta­­ry of the Ministry of Communications Ali Sher Mehsud on Tuesday conceded that poor planning was the weakest point of the National Highway Authority (NHA) in road projects across the country.

The admission came as members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) lodged complaints with the communications secretary over the poor condition of major highways and expressed particular concern over delays in the completion of road projects.

What was meant to be a direct review of the NHA’s audit objections for 2024-25 turned into a gruelling 90-minute session. Members spent the first hour and a half discussing recommendations to improve NHA operations before finally turning their attention to audit discrepancies.

The first audit objection pertained to the non-execution of remaining works worth Rs4.3 billion on a 167-kilometre stretch of the Jaglot-Skardu Road. The contract had been awarded to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) for improvement, upgradation and widening of the road.

Mr Mehsud described the Jaglot-Skardu Road as “not a normal road”.

“There are 16 sections on the highway that are prone to landslides. Last year, two landslides damaged the highway. Last month, two more landslides delayed the project, which was originally scheduled to be completed in November 2022,” Mr Mehsud said, responding to members’ concerns over delays in completing road projects across the country.

However, he assured the PAC that the Jaglot-Skardu Road would be completed by December 2026.

The Auditor General’s office had maintained that, due to the contractor’s failure to fulfil his commitment to complete the remaining work, financial adjustment or deduction was required to be made.

As members complained that delays in road projects reflected faulty planning, Mr Mehsud assured the committee that the planning wing was being strengthened through the hiring of a specialised team to overcome capacity limitations in highway design.

Another audit objection pertained to a defective design that led to additional work through a variation order without open competition, causing a loss of Rs4.080 billion to the public exchequer.

The audit observed that the construction of an approximately 11.8-kilometre, four-lane bypass, including the existing Spina More section, was not included in the scope of the original project, titled “Dualisation and Improvement of Indus Highway (N-55) Karak to Kohat”.

Another audit paragraph related to an irregular payment of Rs1.869 billion made without approval from the competent authority in connection with the construction, rehabilitation and widening of the Chitral-Kalash Valley Road.

The audit observed that the NHA had made provisional payments on account of escalation for provisional works. This resulted in an irregular payment of Rs1.869 billion to the contractor without obtaining approval from the competent authority.

The Auditor General’s office directed the NHA to blacklist the consultant involved in the project and also called for strengthening the authority’s Design Wing to ensure proper oversight and report the outcome.

Mr Mehsud told the committee that the consultant for the project had already been blacklisted.