Extracts Speech of delivered at the
Concluding Session of  Stakeholder Consultation Workshop
At  Islamabad on 18 Jan 2001

By Lt. General (Retd.) Javed Ashraf Qazi,
Federal Minister for Communications & Railways 

Addressing the concluding session, the Minister said that overloading on highway causes two-fold damage. Firstly, it destroys the roads, thereby causing large amounts of money having to be spent on maintenance and secondly, the road users have to face considerable difficulties. The money spent on construction of roads and their maintenance is borne by the National Exchequer but the transporters do not pay any heed to the damage caused  to the highways and to their own vehicles by overloading. The National Highways Authority,  will be setting up weigh-bridges along highways to control overloading. He said that the co-operation of the transporters should also be sought and they should be asked to instruct their drivers to respect traffic rules and regulations on the highways. The Minister  was of the opinion that new roads should only be constructed where there is an economic necessity. Priority should be given to rehabilitation of existing roads and toll tax collected should be used solely on road maintenance. The Government of Pakistan (GoP) will review the toll structure and make it commensurate with road condition and damage to roads.

The Minister remarked that traffic safety is a more serious problem. While rules and  regulations already exist, it is their proper implementation, which is the real problem. He stated that over 7,200 persons die as a result of road accidents in Pakistan every year and the estimated financial loss is about Rs.60 billion. He felt that the cooperation of the print and electronic media should be sought for creating awareness amongst the public on road safety and the experts should draw upon the experience of advanced nations to handle this problem in an effective way. He said that the Highway Safety Ordinance 2000, will prove very useful for these measures.  He said that a comprehensive campaign should be launched to inform road users about road safety, axle load control, driver education and  booklets should be published on these topics by ARUP with possible assistance from the World Bank.

General Ashraf, stressed that driver education and training was most important. He urged the Association of Road Users of Pakistan to take the lead in this field and play an active role in promoting this cause in all parts of Pakistan by establishing driver training institutes. 

The Minister complimented the organizers of the Road Stakeholder Consultation Program on the fine work done at the four workshops held in all the provinces of Pakistan during 2000. He noted the recommendations made at the Concluding Session at Islamabad on 18^th January 2001 and assured that these would be implemented as far us possible. Lt. General Javed Ashraf Qazi, complimented the road users for campaigning to bring about a change in Pakistan’s laws to enable road accident victims to receive immediate medical treatment at all hospitals, prior to the filing of a FIR. He specially welcomed this recommendation and requested Major General Tariq Javed, Chairman National Highway Authority, to prepare a Summary for the federal cabinet on this subject.

back    |    top