Multan-Sukkur Motorway Project To Be Completed Before Time

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Sep, 2018 ) :The 392-kilometer Sukkur-Multan section of Peshawar-Karachi Motorway is likely to be opened for traffic by May next year, two months ahead of the given schedule of August 04, 2019, General Manager of the project , Arbab Ali said.

"At present 69 percent of total work has been completed, out of which 392 kilometer roadbed and culvert passage, and other structures are about to be competed (99%). Up to now, all the bridges are near completion, and asphalt pavement works are advancing at full speed, and the building construction and ancillary works also being implemented actively," he said while talking to a group of media in Multan.

He said this section was part of the mega China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

He informed that on May 26 this year, a 33 km section (Multan-Shujaabad) in the north end of the project was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, however it could not be opened to traffic due to incomplete work of the section. "This section will be opened to traffic by March next year".

Pakistan's PKM project starts from Karachi via Hyderabad, Sukkur, Multan, Islamabad, Lahore and other cities ends in Peshawar with a total length of 1,152 kilometers.

Sukkur-Multan has a design speed of 120 km per hour, and it is a two-way six-lane road with a contractual value of USD 2.889 billion (excluding $180 million tax exemption).

The Export-Import Bank of China provides loan support, and China State Construction Company Limited (CSCEC) is responsible for construction on Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) basis.

With a contract period of 36 months (including design period of four months), the project officially started on August 5, 2016.

Meanwhile CEO of CSEC Mr zong informed that majority of the investment by China was based on soft loan (with a markup rate of only 2.2%) while the rest was based on commercial loans.

He said that in this project, a total of 101 bridges, 1503 structures, 11 interchanges, six service areas, five rest areas, and 22 toll plazas will be constructed.

"The whole project is divided into seven sections, each of which is about 54-59 kilometers long and all seven sections are constructed simultaneously,".

Regarding job markets he said priority was being given to Pakistani People at the time of employment so that the proportion of Chinese staff to Pakistani staff reaches 1 to 15.6. "At present about 1500 Chinese while 23000 Pakistani workers and officers were working in this project.

He said lots of farmers who depended on Heaven for food have been converted to vocational workers engaged in modernization construction of the country.

For instance, he said the construction materials were procured locally such as steel, cement, soil, crush stones and diesel, etc.

A large amount of machinery and equipment are rented locally. Moreover, cooperation has also been made with local suppliers to develop borrow areas and quarries. These have directly promoted the development of local industries involving more than 1000 local enterprises such as stone quarrying, construction materials and equipment lease, etc.

Meanwhile security in-charge Major Qaiser informed during the briefing that with the strong support of the Embassy of China, the Pakistan government and Pak Army, approximately 4,100 security forces have been mobilized to the project.

He said due to fool proof security provided to the CPEC projects, not a single casualty was reported in in any of the CPEC project so far.

He said public welfare activities had also been widely carried out such as construction of wells, and canals and donation to schools, etc. 78.5 km roads, 20 bridges, 54 wells and over 300 canals were built for villages along the project alignment.

Replying to a question, Arbab Ali said that Sukkur-Hyderabad section PKM could not be awarded so far due to some litigation issues.

However he hoped that the matter would be resolved soon and work on the project could be started by next year.