Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the 293kms long Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway on Wednesday which is an important part of the western route of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. The Hakla-DI Khan motorway has 11 interchanges, 36 bridges, 33 flyovers and 119 underpasses.
The motorway will help transform DI Khan into one of the main business hubs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, linking South Punjab and Balochistan. It will also enable the supply of agricultural produce to different parts of the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Imran Khan said that previously the development of the country was confined only to GT roads. “A country achieves progress if there is uniform development across its length and breadth. It is made possible due to long-term planning like China, which has planned 30 years ahead,” the PM added.
The prime minister said that future planning will envisage a roadmap towards progress, embracing all parts of the country.
“If only a few areas are developed only people living in those areas would become rich, leaving behind populations of backward areas in poverty. This was the biggest problem of the developing world,” he added.
The premier recollected that during the 60s, Pakistan focused on long-term planning as some of the country’s biggest projects were conceived during that period. He said that he had consistently been stating during the last 25 years that corruption had been the biggest problem in Pakistan.
“In the past, roads were being constructed at expensive costs as the money was going into someone’s pockets. How can it be that roads constructed during 2013 were more costly than they are now,” he lamented.
Commending the efforts of the minister of communication, the prime minister said that it was among the top three performing ministries.
“Revenues of the National Highway Authority had been doubled after steps taken against corruption including e-tendering, besides NHA’s encroached land worth Rs5 billion was also recovered,” he said.
The premier further said that people in far-flung areas were deprived of health facilities as he stressed on the provision of education and justice.
