TIMERGARA: The government contractors here on Wednesday warned to stop work on all ongoing projects if the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and its departments failed to release funds already approved for the projects.

Talking to mediapersons here, the government contractors, including Sahib Zada, Saiful Azam and Abdullah Shah, said that despite tall claims of the government the work on many development projects had been stopped due to lack of funds for them.

They said that the government had approved Rs275 million for construction of 18 road projects in PK-95 under its Annual Development Programme while it had released only Rs2.5 million. Similarly, the government has released only Rs5 million of Rs 278 million allocated for six road projects under ADP.

Urge govt to release the approved funds

The contractors said that Rs150 million had been approved for Kumbar-Gumbat Banda road in 2014, but work on the road had been stopped due to unavailability of funds.

They said that the government had set aside Rs510 million for construction of Talash-Kalpani bypass road, but work had been stopped on it due to paucity of funds. They warned to stop work on all ongoing projects in Lower Dir if the government did not release the approved funds.

ROAD ACCIDENT: Three people were injured when a jeep collided with a truck at Osakai area of Adenzai here on Wednesday. Sources said the jeep was going to Chakdara from Timergara and collided with a truck coming from the opposite side.

As a result, three inmates of the jeep identified as Ahmad, Imad and Nasir Khan were injured. They were referred to Peshawar from THQ hospital, Chakdara.

Meanwhile, MPA Izazul Mulk on Wednesday said that the Lower Dir district had great potential for tourism and the government should focus on it. Speaking at an inaugural ceremony of a hotel here, he said that Timergara city had become a business hub in the region where well-off traders were investing their capital.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2017