Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan blamed the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial governments for delays in highway projects on Friday [1, 2].
These infrastructure delays impact national connectivity and economic movement, as critical transport corridors remain unfinished due to administrative friction between federal and provincial authorities.
During a National Highway Authority (NHA) review meeting in Islamabad, Khan said the provincial governments had not fulfilled their commitments [1]. He said that this lack of cooperation caused the setbacks in completing critical highway infrastructure [1, 2].
To resolve the impasse, Khan said the NHA must accelerate the completion of these projects [1, 2]. He said the authority should undertake stalled schemes independently to ensure they are finished regardless of provincial delays [1, 2].
The minister's directive signals a shift toward federal autonomy in managing road infrastructure when provincial coordination fails. The NHA is now tasked with bypassing traditional provincial dependencies to meet project deadlines [1, 2].
“Abdul Aleem Khan blamed the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial governments for delays in highway projects”
This friction highlights the ongoing tension between federal oversight and provincial autonomy in Pakistan's infrastructure development. By ordering the NHA to act independently, the federal government is attempting to mitigate political bottlenecks that often stall large-scale public works, potentially altering the traditional cooperative framework for regional transport projects.
