Repair of NATO-damaged roads costs Pakistan over 1 billion USD

[BATMAN]

Repair of NATO-damaged roads costs Pakistan over 1 billion USD - Xinhua | English.news.cn

ISLAMABAD, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistani government has to spend at least one billion and 36 million U.S. dollars for repairing and reconstruction of the roads damaged by NATO supply tankers to Afghanistan, local media reported on Saturday.

Addressing a National Assembly session on Friday, Minister for Communication Dr. Arbab Alamgir Khan said that the heavy-loaded NATO containers have left 26 percent of the main highways in deteriorated condition and the reconstruction and rehabilitation of these roads cost one billion and 36 million U.S. dollars, local paper The Nation reported.

The National High Authority network connects Pakistan to Afghanistan via three routes having a total length of 4,046 km and almost 250 to 300 heavy loaded NATO containers traveled on them every day costing Pakistan over 1,300 million U.S. dollars for rehabilitation reconstruction of the roads.

The minister informed the National Assembly that the issue has already been highlighted at various forums with the proposal to claim these damages to the NATO forces.

According to media reports, nearly 70 percent of the NATO supplies were shipped into Afghanistan via the land route of Pakistan.

The NATO supplies to Afghanistan were first sent to Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi and then transported into Afghanistan for over 140,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan through the two border checkpoints via the land route of Pakistan.

Pakistan halted NATO supplies to Afghanistan following a cross- border attack by NATO forces on two border check posts of the Pakistan army. The attack left 24 soldiers dead and deteriorated the relations between Pakistan and the United States.

Talking to media earlier on Tuesday, Defence Minister of Pakistan Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said that Pakistan would reopen the NATO supply lines to Afghanistan after the approval of certain conditions to be put forward by the Pakistani government to the United States.

The minister did not explain the conditions to be put forward by the government for negotiation, but some unconfirmed reports earlier last month said that Pakistan would impose taxes on NATO tankers for using the country's land routes.

 

[RayKalm]

Stuff like this won't be reported in the so called "fair and unbiased" media.