KOHAT, Dec 4: A local leader of Awami National Party has demanded action against communication and works department for not initiating preliminary work on the Ustarzai Road approved by the NWFP chief minister 13 months ago.

In a press release issued here on Sunday, Syed Qalb-e-Hassan, MPA, said that Chief Minister Akram Durrani, while addressing a public meeting in his constituency, had accepted his demand and directed the C&W department to start work on the road immediately.

But despite lapse of more than one year and several reminders, the XEN was “intentionally delaying the project for unknown reasons”, he charged.

The chief minister should initiate an inquiry against the official and order early completion of the road, the ANP leader demanded.

Meanwhile, social and business circles have expressed deep anguish over protracted repair work of the newly-constructed Rawalpindi-Kohat Road. The project, completed in 2004 instead of its scheduled date in 2003, is being constantly repaired since then.

The dual 26km road, constructed at a cost of Rs240 million, has become a permanent nuisance for commuters and those who live along the road. They have been inhaling dust for the last four years and there seems no end to the discomfort forced upon them by the contractor.

It was supposed to be of international standard like the motorway because it had been constructed as part of an alternative business route to Afghanistan and to facilitate future trade with Central Asia.