Maryam Nawaz inaugurates five road projects under Punjab PPP Authority

Modern electronic toll plazas will also be established on roads shifted to the PPP model. The projects include the 80-kilometre Muridke-Narowal Road, 33-kilometre Shakargarh-Narowal Road and 97-kilometre Faisalabad Ring Road. The 52-kilometre Faisalabad-Sahianwala Road and 56-kilometre Faisalabad-Samundri-Rajana Road are also part of the PPP projects.

Under the arrangement, private contractors will collect tolls linked with the National Highway Authority for seven years, while the private companies will also be responsible for maintenance, construction and repair of the respective roads. Vice Chairperson of the Punjab Public-Private Partnership Authority and Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb briefed the meeting on the projects.

She said projects involving hostels, hospitals, parks, sports grounds, waste-to-energy facilities, parking plazas, tourism, water supply and recycling were also in the pipeline under the PPP authority. Effluent treatment plants for filtering toxic industrial wastewater, as well as Zarrar Cafe, tourism and food street projects, will also be completed under the PPP model.

The processing time for projects under the Punjab Public-Private Partnership Authority has been reduced from less than two years to six months. Four more roads in Punjab will be shifted to the PPP model, including the 42-kilometre Bahawalpur-Yazman Road, 43-kilometre Yazman-Ahmadpur East Road, 28-kilometre Raiwind-Changa Manga Road and 26-kilometre Gajjumata-Kasur Road.

Water and sanitation services projects in Chakwal and Kasur will also be completed under public-private partnerships. In Lahore, the Tourism Department will develop a Time Travel Park under the PPP model. For the first time, an FMD vaccine protection plant will be established to combat foot-and-mouth disease among livestock.

A parking plaza and multimodal commercial facility will also be developed at Badami Bagh bus terminal, while a bridge will be constructed at Sahuka Pattan over the River Sutlej under the PPP model. Black soldier fly larvae facilities will be established for solid waste management at vegetable and fruit markets across Punjab.

The management of 100 sports grounds and other facilities will also be carried out under the PPP framework. A modern truck terminal will be developed in Faisalabad under the PPP model. Girls’ and boys’ hostels will be constructed at Punjab University and 28 other public-sector universities, while hostels at three medical colleges will also be developed through public-private partnerships.

Fourteen hostels will be established across the province for working women under the PPP model. The operation and development of the Nursing Hostel at Sahiwal Teaching Hospital and Faridia Park Sahiwal will also be undertaken through public-private partnerships.

Projects worth up to Rs500 million can be approved and implemented through the divisional PPP working party headed by the commissioner. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif appreciated Finance Secretary Mujahid Sher Dil, Communications Secretary Raja Jahangir Anwar, PPP Authority CEO Dr Zeeshan Hanif and their team for their efforts.

Provincial Communications Minister Sohaib Ahmed Bharth, Finance Secretary Mujahid Sher Dil and Communications Secretary Raja Jahangir Anwar also addressed the ceremony.