The federal government has told the National Highway Authority to stop spreading itself thin and to give first priority to road projects that can actually pay their way. Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema issued the direction while chairing a meeting in Islamabad to review the authority’s finances, its business plan and an ongoing assessment being carried out by a consultant of the Asian Development Bank.
Cheema told the NHA to draw up a practical business plan that would put the organisation on a sustainable footing and keep it from piling up debt-servicing bills it cannot afford. He asked for clear timelines for putting the plan into action, along with an honest assessment of whether the authority has the institutional strength to deliver what it promises. Projects, he said, should be sorted according to how financially viable they are and what kind of funding each one needs, so that investment decisions are made on evidence rather than ambition.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The minister also directed that realistic commercial indicators be built into the project planning documents known as PC-Is, so that the Central Development Working Party can judge each proposal properly when it comes up for approval. At the same time, he insisted that taking on outside or commercial finance must not become an excuse to cut the NHA’s share of the Public Sector Development Programme, arguing that federal development funding remains essential to the road network. Project feasibility assessments, he added, should be shared early with the Finance Division’s Central Monitoring Unit instead of arriving late in the process.
Cheema further urged the authority to move faster in its work with the Asian Development Bank consultant, particularly on mapping projects, carrying out feasibility studies and building financial models that can separate genuinely worthwhile investments from those that would only add to future debt. The message running through the meeting was a familiar one for Pakistan’s public sector, where grand announcements have too often outrun the money available to finish them. If the NHA now follows through, the test will not be how many projects it launches but how many it can complete and maintain without leaving the next government to pay the bill.
