MANSEHRA, April 27: The representatives of the Hazara Transporters Association have warned that if the ‘illegal’ toll palaza set up by the National Highway Authority on the Karakorum Hghway (KKH) in Mansehra is not removed, the transporters would not cooperate with the govrnment in the upcoming presidential referendum.
Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, leaders of the association said that if their demand was not accepted before the April 30 referendum they would be forced to chalk out a strategy for launching a protest campaign.
Speaking at a press conference at the Mansehra Press Club here on Saturday they said there was no legal or moral justification for establishing more than one toll plaza on N-35 route of the KKH stretching from Hassan Abdal to Khunjrab pass which was in violation of the NHA rules.
They said the transporters have to pay the toll tax on both sides on four plazas during their journey between Mansehra and Rawalpindi-Islamabad. They said even during a small journey between Mansehra and Abbottabad, the transporters pay Rs120 to Rs150 per vehicle everyday at NHA toll plaza in Mansehra. They said that it not only incurs loss to the transporters but the general public is also directly affected through it.
They said that a toll plaza of the NHA on KKH at N-35 route exists near Jahari Kass at the meeting point of Hazara and Punjab and as per the NHA rules there was no justification of another one on N-35.
If at all there was a need for construction of another toll plaza on KKH, it could only be constructed beyond Bhasha in Kohistan district, they added. They said Hazara and especially Mansehra was a more backward area having no industry and other employment opportunities and the people here mostly have recourse to transport business.
They said the transporters mostly get the vehicles on loan from the private parties or the financial institutions but due to heavy taxes in different shapes, it becomes difficult for them to make both the ends meet and to pay the monthly instalments of the vehicles.
They said they have not only made numerous appeals to the president general Pervez Musharraf, the NWFP governor, the Chairman NHA and the district Nazim of Mansehra but have also held meetings with all of them but despite assurances nothing has been done to redress their grievances.
Those present at the press conference included Mohammad Feroze Khan president, Mohammad Pervez Khan senior vice-president and Mohammad Javed Khan general secretary of the wagon owners association.
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