PESHAWAR, July 26: The Frontier Highway Authority (FHA) will shortly bring some more provincial highways under its net of toll tax in an effort to improve its revenue base, according to senior government functionaries.

“The authority will shortly expand its resource base by introducing toll tax on a couple of more highways falling under the jurisdiction of the provincial government,” said a senior officer of the FHA.

The Abbottabad-Gallyaat-Barryaan road in the  picturesque Hazara region of the NWFP would shortly be brought under the FHA’s net of toll tax.

“The move will shortly be implemented as the government has okayed the introduction of nominal toll tax on  vehicular traffic,” said the officer.

The officer did not agree that the move would affect the poverty-ridden people of the area who might face an eventual increase in transport fairs due to the imposition of toll tax.

Rejecting the impression, he said that the rates of toll tax being charged by the FHA from motorists and transport vehicles were considerably lower than the ratio at which National Highway Authority (NHA) was charging.

The FHA, said the officer, would charge Rs three per car, Rs 15 per bus (heavy vehicle) and Rs 10 per wagon.

“Collection of toll tax on the Abbottabad-Gallyaat highway is likely to started from August 1, 2003 “ said the officer.

The FHA, according to him, was expecting to generate Rs four million to Rs five million through toll tax on the said highway.

The highway, said the sources, did not contain much prospects as far as generation of revenue through toll tax was concerned because of the fact that it received bulk of the traffic only three months in a year when tourists from across the country throng to Gallyaat region during the peak summer season starting from June 15 every year.

Sources said the NHA had been collecting toll tax between the Azizabad-Abbottabad section of the same highway before it handed over the highway to the provincial government.

Apart from the Abbottabad-Gallyaat road, the FHA was also in the process of levying toll tax on vehicular traffic using Swabi-Mardan highway.

“Though the government made two attempts to introduce the toll tax on the said road, it failed to get materialized due to some problems, the fresh move would certainly yield the desired results,” said the sources.

The FHA invited bids from the interested parties for the collection of toll tax on the Swabi-Mardan road but on both occasions it could not materialize the move because no one showed interest in the bidding process.

The authority has once again invited bids for awarding contract and officials in the FHA appeared optimistic that the issue would be resolved and collection of toll tax would shortly commence.