July 6, 2003	Sunday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 5,1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

PESHAWAR, July 5: A bus service between Peshawar and Jalalabad (Afghanistan) is likely to be started soon to boost tourism, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation officials said on Saturday.

An official told Dawn that the Afghan transitional government had agreed, in principle, to resume the service after more than 13 years.

A bus service between Peshawar and Kabul was started during the period of then president Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan which was stopped before the fall of Dr Najeebullah’s government.

Officials said the Sarhad Tourism Development Corporation and the PTDC had finalized modalities for the proposed service and they were awaiting a green signal from Islamabad.

They said initially one air-conditioned coach would be operated on a daily basis between Peshawar and Jalalabad. Later, they added, the service might be launched from Islamabad too.

Sources said the bus service could be extended to Kabul, provided the law and order situation and communication facilities in the war-torn country improved.

TRANSPORTERS SUE: The Public Transport Owners Association, NWFP, has decided to file a suit against the general bus stand contractor, accusing him of charging extra fees from the public transport.

In a press statement issued here on Saturday, president of the association Haji Jehangir Khan Afridi alleged that the general bus stand contractor, in connivance with some local government officials, was interfering in affairs of public transport.

He said that he had asked all the transporters not to pay any single penny extra to the contractor. He warned that if the contractor did not stop collecting extra fee from the bus terminals immediately, he would file suit against the contractor.