ISLAMABAD, Aug 25 (APP):Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) leader Sharmila Farooqi on Tuesday called for adequate federal funding for the Sukkur-Hyderabad M-6 Motorway project, saying the strategic project had faced delays for several years. Speaking in the National Assembly on a point of order, she said the PPPP had been raising the issue of funding for the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway for several months. She said the M-6 was a strategic missing …
Sharmila Farooqi seeks funds for Sukkur-Hyderabad M-6 project
ISLAMABAD, Aug 25 (APP):Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) leader Sharmila Farooqi on Tuesday called for adequate federal funding for the Sukkur-Hyderabad M-6 Motorway project, saying the strategic project had faced delays for several years.
Speaking in the National Assembly on a point of order, she said the PPPP had been raising the issue of funding for the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway for several months.
She said the M-6 was a strategic missing link connecting Karachi with Peshawar and stressed the need to complete the project.
Farooqi said the issue had been raised in the National Assembly as well as parliamentary committees. Following these efforts, around Rs30 billion was allocated as a token amount out of the Rs70 billion required for the project.
She said the issue was discussed at a meeting held on August 22 under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar.
Farooqi said the meeting raised concerns over what she termed unequal allocation of federal funds between Sindh and Punjab.
She said the government had stated that it did not have fiscal space to fund major projects and had suggested shifting them to public-private partnerships.
However, she pointed out that a motorway project between Lahore and Bahawalnagar, costing around Rs407 billion, had received approval, while Rs49 billion had been allocated from federal funds for its 18.5-kilometre first phase.
Farooqi said the M-6 project, which had been stalled for several years, required around Rs40 billion, but the required funding had not been provided on the grounds that the federal government lacked funds.
She termed the situation unfair to the people of Sindh and said the M-6 was an important inter-provincial project linking Karachi with Peshawar.
She strongly protested the disparity in funding and requested that the matter be referred to the relevant Standing Committee on Communications for discussion.
Farooqi urged the government to review the funding issue and allocate the required funds for the Sukkur-Hyderabad section so that the M-6 project could be completed.
