The government will not be able to invest in transportation infrastructure in ten years’ time, says the Minister of Roads and Urban Development.
“In the best-case scenario, the revenues earned from the sales of even 3 million barrels of oil per day will not be enough for the development of infrastructure,” Mehr News quoted Abbas Akhoundi as saying.
“Our infrastructure suffered huge setbacks in the past which will not be overcome by the help of public budget. By weighing all the deals the government has inked including the national and provincial projects, we come to know that its future debts will be massive,” he added.
It is advisable to outline optimistic, pessimistic and middle-of-the road scenarios for the state of investment in the infrastructure, Akhoundi noted.
Referring to the concerns of people, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the government and the Parliament about the future of transportation infrastructure, the minister said: “We need to change our outlook on all fields of railroad, road, air and sea transport. The maintenance of 217,000 kilometers of roads in the country calls for huge resources. Every year the total budget should solely go to the roads.”
