KHAR: The people of Barang tehsil of Bajaur Agency on Sunday complained of long delay in reconstruction of two bridges over a river, which had been washed away in the 2010 flashfloods.

Speaking at a jirga at Memola area here, the tribesmen threatened to launch a protest movement if work on the damaged bridges was not initiated by next Friday.

Tribal elders and workers of political parties, including Bajaur president of PTI Gul Dad Khan, JI leader Mohammad Zaman, Malik Asghar Khan, Malik Ihsan, Mailk Khan Jan and others spoke at the jirga.

They said two bridges linking Bajaur Agency with Malakand Agency at Silai Pataty and Bosak area had been destroyed during the 2010 floods, but no practical step had been taken for their reconstruction.

They said delay in reconstruction of bridges had caused great suffering to the tribesmen as they had no alternative to cross the river during flooding.

They said funds had already been released for the project and even the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor had issued directives for early rebuilding of the bridges.

Meanwhile, an official of the local works and services department told Dawn that reconstruction work on the bridges and 22km road in Barang would be started soon.