Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan, while presiding over a National Highway Authority (NHA) review meeting in Islamabad on May 15, 2026, issued a decisive mandate to accelerate the completion of critical infrastructure, signaling a shift toward federal intervention where provincial commitments have faltered.
Expressing formal dissatisfaction with the progress of projects involving the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments, the Minister noted that delays will no longer be tolerated as these delays are impeding progress on many vital projects. He specifically highlighted that after more than five-month wait for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government regarding the Peshawar Northern Bypass, the NHA is now prepared to complete the project independently if provincial funds are not forthcoming. Furthermore, he observed that the Punjab government has remained unable to deliver its promised share for the Rawalpindi-Kahuta project, leading to his directive that the NHA assume full responsibility for finalizing these incomplete transit corridors.
In tandem with these administrative directives, Federal Minister Abdul Aleem Khan ordered a strategic expansion of the motorway network, mandating that the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway be widened from four to six lanes and ensuring the Sialkot-Kharian and Kharian-Rawalpindi segments are constructed as six-lane facilities.
He emphasized the necessity of meeting strict technical and temporal benchmarks, instructing that the feasibility of all NHA projects must reach 100 percent accuracy and that the final phases of ongoing works—particularly the bridges on the Peshawar Northern Bypass—must be concluded before the July monsoon season. The meeting, attended by the Secretary of Communications and the Chairman of the NHA, served as a platform for the Minister to voice his displeasure regarding current slow-paced executions, reiterating that the Ministry will prioritize rapid completion to ensure the efficiency of the national transport infrastructure.
