14 February 2004	Saturday	22 Zilhaj 1424

PESHAWAR, Feb 13: The NWFP government is considering a proposal to start a bus service between Peshawar and Jalalabad to cater to the needs of Afghan refugees as well as local traders, officials told Dawn on Friday.

"The bus service will be started within a month for which tenders have already been floated," said officials at the provincial transport department. Initially, about 40 buses will be given international route permits to ply on the Peshawar-Jalalabad highway, officials said.

They said the Afghan government had also pledged to provide 40 buses, which would run from Jalalabad to Peshawar, and back to Jalalabad. According to officials, they have asked contractors to provide buses which seat 42, and are in good condition.

This would be a non-stop service, they said. The buses would have bathroom facilities as well. The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) had also proposed to start a daily bus service between Peshawar and Jalalabad to promote tourism in the region.

The PTDC officials said they had received a proposal from the Afghan foreign ministry to extend the bus service to Kabul. They said the corporation was ready to run buses between Peshawar and Kabul, but the dilapidated condition of Jalalabad-Kabul road was a hindrance.

An official at the NWFP transport department said there were a lot of buses on Peshawar-Jalalabad highway, but overcharging, overloading and violation of other rules by the privately-run buses were rampant. But the ones to be operated anytime soon would be required to abide by the law and facilitate passengers.

The air-conditioned buses would be given all the documents and there would be a check on their operations by the departments concerned, officials said. The private contractors had promised cooperation with the government and if there was a success, the services would be extended to Kabul and beyond, officials said.

About security arrangements beyond the Torkham checkpoint, the officials said they had been in constant touch with the Afghan government and Pakistani ambassador in Kabul, who had held out assurances in this respect.

One bus will leave every 30 minutes and the number of vehicles could be increased in keeping with the passenger load, officials said. There will be no service after 5pm, because of the closure of the gate at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Torkham. The bus fare will be fixed later on.