Total 2,371KM (36%) of all Highways in Pakistan
(6600 Km)
ROAD NETWORK IMPROVEMENT IN BALOCHISTAN TO STRENGTHEN REGIONAL LINKAGES
The Asian Development
Bank (ADB) will help improve the provincial road network, including a
priority regional transport corridor, in Balochistan, Pakistan's biggest
and most undeveloped state, through a loan and technical assistance (TA)
package approved totaling more than US$187 million.
The Balochistan Road
Development Sector Project will support institutional development,
improvement of provincial roads and national highways, and construction
of a new cross border facility into Afghanistan.
The project will
directly benefit 500,000 people living near the roads, of whom 200,000
are classified as poor. Many more will benefit in the long run from
lower transport costs and economic and social development.
The reconstruction
underway in Afghanistan, the introduction of market-oriented reforms in
Pakistan, and developments in Central Asia have opened up new
opportunities for closer cooperation among these countries.
The project will
improve and widen 247 km of National Highway 25 from Kalat to Quetta and
Quetta to Chamman, forming part of the Central Asia-Afghanistan-Pakistan
transport corridor that passes through Balochistan.
A new cross-border
facility into Afghanistan will be built at Chamman and equipped with
modern systems and equipment. ADB assistance will go toward training
aimed at improving delivery of cross-border services including
immigration, customs and health checks in an integrated manner.
Under the project,
staff will be trained in immigration, security, customs, weigh stations,
and other border duties.
This is ADB's first
road project in Pakistan that support regional cooperation through
physical improvements and capacity building.
"It recognizes that
Pakistan - and Balochistan, in particular - are geographically
well-placed to play an increasing role in regional cooperation, linking
landlocked Afghanistan and Central and South Asia more closely."
Bureaucratic procedures
and lack of facilities can cause delays in moving goods and passengers
across the borders. The inability to effectively manage and monitor
cross-border trade has also spurred extensive smuggling and other
unauthorized flows of goods.
The border facilities
and improvements to NH25 will provide easier and more controlled
movement of goods along the main corridor linking Afghanistan to major
ports in the south of Pakistan, promoting economic and social
development in the province.
About half the rural
villages in Balochistan have poor roads or no road at all and poverty
levels in some areas approach 70%. Gravel roads or earthen tracks
represent 90% of the provincial road network. Most are in poor condition
and have been deteriorating owing to increased traffic, underinvestment,
and lack of maintenance.
To ensure that economic
and social benefits of the transport corridor have the widest impact,
the project includes the repair or construction of about 19 provincial
roads totaling 1,100 km through some of the state's poorest districts.
It will also arrange
periodic maintenance over three years for a portion of the gravel and
surfaced roads.
ADB has adopted a
programmatic approach that sequences assistance in individual provinces
over several years. The project is the third to use that approach,
following road projects approved in 2001 and 2002 covering Sindh and
Punjab provinces, respectively.
Balochistan provincial
government has taken some initiatives to address provincial road sector
policy issues and established a road management unit at its
Communications and Works Department (CWD).
The project will build
capacity in CWD and district levels, including for road maintenance and
road safety, help reform the road maintenance system, and develop a
road-user charge system for heavy truck traffic that does the most
damage to provincial roads.
The total cost of the
project is $267.3 million, of which the Government will provide $81.6
million. ADB will meet almost 70% of the principal through a loan of
$185.7 million.
The loan is from
ordinary capital resources, with a 25-year term, including a grace
period of five years. Interest is determined in accordance with ADB's
LIBOR-based lending facility.
The assistance package
includes a TA loan of $1 million, from ADB's concessional
Asian Development Fund, that will help to ensure that maximum
development benefits reach the people living along the project roads. It
carries a 32-year term, including a grace period of eight years.
Interest is charged at 1% per annum during the grace period and 1.5% per
annum subsequently.
In addition, ADB will
provide a TA grant of $500,000 equivalent to assist in improving
cross-border operations and establish a pilot cross-border facility.
The CWD Balochistan is
the executing agency for the institutional development and provincial
access components and the National Highway Authority for the
cross-border development and national highways work. The project is due
for completion in June 2009.
