May 15, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1424

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GILGIT, May 14: The Northern Areas cabinet has expressed its dissatisfaction over the pace of work carried out by the Frontier Works Organization to restore the Karakoram Highway, which is blocked for 13 days at Tatupani in Diamer district.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday in Gilgit, Northern Area Deputy Chief Executive Fida Muhammad Nashad, NALC (Northern Areas Legislative Council) Speaker Sahib Khan, Adviser Engr Ismail, opposition leader Syed Jafar Shah, members Mehboob Ali Khan and Wazeer Beg stated that the region was facing severe shortage of food, fuel and medicines.

If the highway was not restored within three days, the people would suffer from starvation, they said.

The KKH blockade at Tatupani, they said, had become a perennial issue which could not be resolved despite approval of funds for the construction of an alternative route and a bridge at Gauherabad. They sought solution to the problem either by building larger airports in Gilgit and Skardu or providing substitute to the KKH.

STAY ORDER: The Gilgit sessions and district court, that also exercises the powers of Northern Areas Election Tribunal, has granted stay order against the NALC by-elections in NA-2 on the plea of an applicant, Sunbul Shah.

The by-polls were scheduled to be hold on June 15.

Sunbul Shah had filed a petition with the tribunal that he might be declared as retained candidate because he had already filed a plea in 1999, against the results of 1999 elections in the same constituency.