PESHAWAR: Work on the Bus Rapid Transit project is speedily under way to ensure the inauguration of the bus service on March 23, said Peshawar Development Authority director general Israrul Haq on Friday.

Mr Haq told a delegation of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry that the government was also going to launch a Rs200 million project for restoring historical beauty of Khyber Bazaar, Qissa Khwani and Chowk-i-Yadgar.

The SCCI delegation was led by the chamber’s acting president, Saad Khan Zahid.

Former president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Ghazanfar Bilour, former SCCI president Haji Mohammad Afzal, vice president Haris Mufti, Industrialists Association Hayatabad president Zarak Khan Khattak and other senior businessmen were also in attendance.

The PDA chief agreed to exempt truckers from toll tax at the entry of Hayatabad Industrial Estate by fixing special stickers on them.

About the demand for payment of compensation to the traders, who had suffered due to the BRT work, he said he would soon visit the chamber premises along with finance minister Taimoor Saleem Jhagra and senior minister Shahram Khan Tarakai to discuss their problems.

Mr Haq said Rs470 million would be spent on the construction of greenbelt along Ring Road, U-turns and installation of streetlights.

He said traffic problems near Hayatabad toll plaza would also be removed soon.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2019