Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday performed groundbreaking of the 306-kilometre Sukkur-Hyderabad section of the M6 motorway, saying that the project would be completed in 30 months.

The project, whose estimated cost is Rs307 billion, was announced by the then prime minister Imran Khan in April 2021 as part of a “historic development package” for Sindh.

Incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz, while speaking at the ceremony in Sukkur today, discussed the construction quality he expects. “I will accept something better than other motorways of the country in terms of quality but nothing less,” he said.

“I ask Sindh Chief Minister [Murad Ali] Shah to keep an eye on the entire project so that quality is maintained and the project is completed in a timely manner,” he added.

The prime minister reiterated that there should be no compromise on the quality of the project, saying: “I have this habit of showing up suddenly and inspecting the quality. Call it bad or good but I have this habit. I will take CM Shah with me and go to inspect.”

The prime minister credited Sindh’s public-private partnership model for the inauguration of the project, and hoped to replicate the same at a federal level.

“I believe that Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal should [consider using] the public-private partnership model [for federal projects],” the prime minister said. “It is imperative for the federal government to follow this model. The province of Sindh has already been doing this.”

He credited his sibling and former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif for laying the foundation of constructing motorways in the country.

PM Shehbaz highlighted how it was important to connect the country’s largest province Balochistan to other parts.

“Balochistan is an important province of the country,” he said. “Pakistan cannot achieve success without the success of Balochistan.”

The Sukkur-Hyderabad section of the M6 motorway has been at the centre of a land scam case.

PM orders feasibility study of Karachi-Hyderabad motorway

In a separate ceremony in Hyderabad later in the day, the premier directed Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Communications Minister Asad Mehmood to conduct a feasibility study of the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway immediately.

“We understand that the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway has been choked and the traffic comes in the opposite directions because of which several accidents are taking place,” he said.

PM Shehbaz recalled that the foundation of the motorway project was laid in Pakistan by his brother Nawaz Sharif in the 1990s. “And his vision can’t be completed until it includes Karachi and Hyderabad.”

The development project Nawaz Sharif had announced could not be completed […] today, I want to request the Sindh government to contribute Rs1 billion, while the federal government will provide Rs1 billion […] this way we will be able to complete the package which would help the people of the province.“

The prime minister also directed CM Murad and Iqbal to “sit together” and discuss which projects were facing delays and why.

‘Won’t take begging bowls to Geneva’

Talking about floods, the premier said that the government won’t take “begging bowls” to the upcoming Climate Resilient Pakistan conference in Geneva on January 9, 2023.

“We will go there to ask for what is our right,” PM Shehbaz said.

He recalled that the catastrophic floods this year had caused massive destruction in Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and South Punjab. “Millions of people were affected. The federal government, provincial governments, Pakistan Army, and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) came together and made all-out efforts to help the victims.”

The center, Shehbaz went on, distributed Rs25,000 for every household. “But despite all these efforts millions of people are still shivering under the cold skies today.

“They need tents, medicines, food, and blankets.”

Centre of M6 scandal

At the centre of the M6 corruption scandal are two bureaucrats — Matiari Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Adnan and Saeedabad Assistant Commissioner Mansoor Abbasi — apart from the Saeedabad branch of Sindh Bank.

For almost a month, DC Adnan inconspicuously managed to withdraw over Rs2.1 billion — earmarked for the construction of a motorway — before the scandal was unearthed.

Hyderabad’s Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) arrested the Matiari DC and obtained his three-day remand, while a case was also registered.

Details indicated that over Rs2.14bn were withdrawn from the Sindh Bank branch in Saeedabad through open bearer cheques, under the pretext of land acquisition for the Hyderabad-Sukkur section of the M6 motorway.

However, no procedural requirements were met before the withdrawals were made.

The National Highway Authority (NHA) had deposited Rs2.70bn in a Sindh Bank account titled “DC Matiari Land Acquisition”.

However, between Oct 17 and Nov 11, AC Abbasi – who was also the land acquisition officer – withdrew Rs2.14bn in cash through various cheques, according to documents seen by Dawn.

However, no trace of the withdrawn money has yet been found.

In November, the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB), Sukkur chapter, began its own probe into the M6 land acquisition scam involving the Naushahro Feroze DC.

Later, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested three Sindh Bank officials in the scam related to land acquisition for the Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway.