Federal Approves Sahiwal Motorway, Ignoring Sindh's Objections What's the Matter?
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00:00Moving on to the next story, we saw that in Lahore, Pakistan's People's Party and Muslim League Noon
00:07were sitting amongst each other.
00:09And according to the agreement between them in Punjab, which we haven't seen yet,
00:16the People's Party is not getting a share.
00:20And we see that the People's Party is complaining from time to time.
00:27Today, we have a special correspondent from Karachi, Sanjay Sadwani, who has broken the news.
00:33And that news is very important.
00:35And again, it is about the disputes between the People's Party and the Noon League.
00:41According to the news, despite the harsh allegations of Sindh,
00:45the federal government has approved the Lahore-Saiwal-Bahawalnagar motorway instead of the Sakhar-Hyderabad motorway.
00:52And has also reduced the amount required for it.
00:56The initial cost of the Lahore-Saiwal-Bahawalnagar motorway was Rs. 264.
01:03Now, the cost of the new motorway is Rs. 436 billion.
01:09And the Punjab government will invest half of it.
01:12Sanjay Sadwani, our special correspondent from Karachi, is with us.
01:17Sanjay, I was watching your story.
01:20You said that the Pakistan People's Party has talked about this in an ACT-NET meeting.
01:27You also raised objections.
01:29But they are not being recognized.
01:31And now, according to your news, the Sindh government has decided
01:35that they will engage Blawal Bhutto Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari.
01:40And they will tell them that there is a lot of injustice being done to them.
01:44We heard about the motorway issue from Chief Minister of Sindh, Mr. Murad Ali Shah.
01:51Accidents keep happening there.
01:53So, what is this story?
01:55Please explain this to us.
01:57Mr. Blawal and Mr. Asif Ali Zardari meet here in the federal government.
02:01They meet the Prime Minister and other people in the federal government.
02:06So, where is this miscommunication?
02:09Look, Mr. Khawar, this is a very important motorway of Sindh.
02:13If you come from Multan to Sukkur, you will get a good motorway.
02:17But as soon as you enter Sukkur, this road is very bad.
02:21But actually, this road is of Wafaa, National Highway Authority.
02:25From Sukkur to Hyderabad, when you start your journey from Islamabad or Peshawar,
02:31when you reach Sukkur, you will feel that there is a lot of destruction in Sindh.
02:35And the condition of Sindh is really bad.
02:37If we also want to go towards Larkana,
02:43because Sindh Uman 12 was saying that money should be kept for the Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway,
02:48and this should be accepted.
02:50The ACNIC meeting was held by the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Ishaq Dar.
02:54Before this, this matter was brought in the ACNIC meeting of Bahawalnagar Motorway.
02:59At that time, Jam Khan was a member from Sindh.
03:03He strongly objected and deferred this matter.
03:06In recent days, the permanent member of Sindh, Jam Khan,
03:10went to Saudi Arabia at that age.
03:12After that, the meeting took place.
03:14Instead of him, someone else from Sindh represented.
03:16And in this meeting, this motorway scheme was approved.
03:20But a big development has also emerged in this.
03:24This motorway, which is 295 km long,
03:26Lahore-Sahoyal-Bahawalnagar Motorway,
03:28when it was approved in 2023,
03:32its total cost was Rs. 264,000.
03:35And now, when it has been revised and approved by the ACNIC,
03:39its cost has increased to Rs. 436 billion.
03:42So, an increase of Rs. 1 billion has been made,
03:44and its approval has also been given by the ACNIC.
03:46Now, when you said in your intro
03:48that the Punjab government should give 50% share in this,
03:51the IMF has forbidden you to invest in such a big project from the morning,
03:58and not make it loyal.
04:00But no final decision has been made on this.
04:03Will the Punjab government give money or not?
04:05Okay, that's done. We understand that.
04:07Now, look, there is an issue of canals.
04:09We have evidence.
04:11Some meetings have taken place.
04:13President Asif Ali Zardari has also given his own ruling on the canals,
04:16if he agrees.
04:18Now, what is happening,
04:20I was listening to your news,
04:22that this complaint will be made through Mr. Bilawal and Mr. Asif Ali Zardari.
04:26I mean, when will the complaint be made?
04:29When all the matters are going on together.
04:31So, why didn't this matter be put forward earlier?
04:34Look, this matter,
04:36Mr. Khawar, many times before,
04:38the Sindh government has written a letter to Waqf-e-Jadid for the Hyderabad-Sakhar Motorway,
04:42that this motorway should be built.
04:44Now, when they have approved it through the ACNIC,
04:46then on behalf of the Sindh government,
04:48the members who were present in that meeting,
04:51they informed the Prime Minister that
04:53they have rejected our objections,
04:55and have approved a new motorway for Punjab.
04:57A new motorway has not been approved for Sindh.
05:00Rs. 1,275 billion has been approved in the last meeting.
05:07And for Sindh, Rs. 1.25 billion has been approved.
05:10In that too, the money has been allocated for the Sehla Mutasereen project.
05:15Yesterday, Hassan also broke a story
05:17that Rs. 9 billion will be kept at the disposal of Mr. Bilawal and Mr. Zardari.
05:20Hassan, I would like to ask you a question.
05:22Sanjay, I would like to ask you a question,
05:24that as soon as these approvals have been made,
05:27there is no new motorway.
05:29Both the motorways are part of the planning.
05:31That is, Vafak has to make this motorway,
05:33and that motorway has to be made.
05:35You are saying that Sakhar Hyderabad has to be made by Vafak,
05:39and the Sahiwal, Lahore-Sahiwal-Tabhalpur has to be made by Vafak.
05:43So this is their responsibility.
05:45But the choice they are making is
05:47where we will make the motorway first.
05:49So there is a big network.
05:51The structure of the motorway is already present in Punjab.
05:55In Sindh, I think, only one part of the motorway has come,
05:59till Sakharwar.
06:01And that too connects from Multan to Sakhar.
06:03I think that part is like this.
06:05So there was not much need
06:07that there would be more network in Sindh,
06:09not in Punjab.
06:11So they must have kept that position, right?
06:13This was the position of the people of Sindh.
06:16And this position was also kept in the ACNIC meeting
06:19that the things that are exported to the whole of Pakistan
06:23through the Karachi port,
06:25are supplied to the whole of Pakistan.
06:27This Hyderabad-Sakhar motorway
06:29is not only important for the people of Sindh,
06:31but also for the citizens of the whole of Pakistan,
06:33including Punjab.
06:35Those who travel from Sindh to Punjab
06:37know how important the Sakhar-Hyderabad motorway is.
06:41The Karachi that I am reporting now,
06:44I have to go to Larkana three times a year.
06:47To go to Larkana,
06:49I choose such a dangerous road
06:51because that road,
06:53this motorway road,
06:55which is near the NHA right now,
06:57that road is better than that,
06:59but its road is dangerous.
07:01Sanjay, the fundamental point,
07:03I also include Mr. Chaudhary in this.
07:05I also ask him questions.
07:07Then I come back to you.
07:09Mr. Chaudhary Ghulam Singh,
07:11everyone knows that this Sakhar motorway
07:13should be built.
07:15The Sindh government has been demanding for a long time.
07:17They are requesting the federal government
07:19to build this Sakhar motorway.
07:21Accidents are happening.
07:23A few days ago, there was a big accident.
07:25Mr. Murad Ali Shah again raised objections.
07:27The question that I will ask Sanjay later,
07:29and I also ask you, Mr. Chaudhary,
07:31this is a very important road.
07:33Doesn't Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
07:35know about this road?
07:37Does President Asif Ali Zardari
07:39know about this road?
07:41Are you the president here for the second time?
07:43Or are you present in Islamabad?
07:45They don't know that
07:47meetings are being held in Islamabad.
07:49All the parties are present in Islamabad.
07:51Sessions are also being held.
07:53National Assembly, Senate meeting.
07:55And the party is not told.
07:57And this complaint is not heard.
07:59Or the party does not get
08:01that kind of importance.
08:03Because in Punjab,
08:05they have their own majority.
08:07The government of the People's Party
08:09cannot exist without the federal government.
08:11So, Mr. Chaudhary, what is happening?
08:13Sometimes it seems that these statements
08:15are coming from the media. Mr. Chaudhary?
08:17No, no, the consumption of media
08:19is necessary for the motorway
08:21to reach Karachi.
08:23First of all, it should be its priority.
08:25Whether anything else happens or not.
08:27Even now, by cancelling them,
08:29first of all, Sukkur to Hyderabad
08:31and Hyderabad to Karachi, whatever it is.
08:33End these problems.
08:35Because the entire lifeline
08:37of the country is in this.
08:39First you destroyed the railways.
08:41Now you are making a big deal out of this.
08:43If things can't go out or come in,
08:45what's the use of it?
08:47You can't do anything
08:49for your own personal
08:51and political entertainment.
08:53You can't do anything
08:55with this. Sanjay,
08:57the final question is
08:59This is a national plan.
09:01Sukkur, Hyderabad,
09:03Falfour,
09:05and the People's Party
09:07have not taken any action.
09:09All Pakistanis are for this.
09:11I want to ask you a question.
09:13Forcefully,
09:15why are you not able to keep this demand?
09:17The leadership of the People's Party
09:19in front of the federal government.
09:21Why are you not restricting them?
09:23Because Pakistan's overall budget
09:25is not a big budget.
09:27It cannot be built on the motorway
09:29and it is being ignored.
09:31The people of Sindh also think
09:33that the loyalty of the People's Party
09:35is based on the votes of the People's Party.
09:37The people of Sindh have mandated
09:39the loyalty of the People's Party
09:41on the issues of Sindh.
09:43Why is the People's Party
09:45doing this?
09:47This is what the people of Sindh
09:49are thinking.
09:51Hyderabad was ruled by the People's Party
09:53from 2008 to 2013.
09:55From 2013 to 2018,
09:57the People's Party was in the province.
09:59From 2018 to 2023,
10:01the People's Party was in the province.
10:03The last period after Imran Khan's
10:05was the period of PDM.
10:07This was not accepted in the morning.
10:09The People's Party should be
10:11responsible for everything.
10:13Why is it doing this?
10:15I agree with him.
10:17We want to build the loyalty of the People's Party
10:19from 2008 to 2013.
10:21We can build this.
10:23The motorway was built before that.
10:25But I will take you
10:27back to the people of Sindh.
10:29You said that
10:31the permanent member of Sindh
10:33was not available.
10:35Someone else
10:37attended the meeting.
10:39Did he attend
10:41without any preparation?
10:43Was he there for Umrah?
10:45Was he there for Umrah?
10:47Was he there for Umrah?
10:49Or did he attend for some other reason?
10:51Jam Khan was there for Umrah.
10:53Jam Khan was there for Umrah.
10:55A meeting was called.
10:57The Sindh government
10:59sent another minister
11:01to the meeting.
11:03He objected to this matter.
11:05He said that the motorway was not built.
11:07This matter is in the act.
11:09Thank you for sharing
11:11all this information.