PESHAWAR, Nov 1: The federal government has neither approved the PC-I of the second phase of the NWFP road project pending since 2004, nor signed an agreement with the Japanese government for obtaining loan, the provincial assembly was informed on Wednesday.

Answering a question by Awami National Party’s Khalil Abbas, Information Minister Asif Iqbal Daudzai, on behalf of the chief minister, said that a NWFP government had sent the PC-I to the federal local government ministry for approval in 2004.

He said the project would cost over Rs3 billion and 331km of roads would be constructed in different areas of the province. He said the donors would select the sites for the roads.

MPAs Bashir Bilour and Abdul Akber Khan asked the minister to provide details of the PC-I and district-wise break-up of roads to be constructed under the project.

They demanded that complete details about the sites of the proposed roads should be provided to the house, but the minister could not present the PC-I of the project.

Speaker Bekhat Jehan Khan asked the members to bring fresh questions regarding the project.

During the question hour, MPA Rifat Akbar Swati raised the issue of appointment of employees on various posts in the works and services department since August 2004.

She said that instead of publishing advertisements of vacancies in major national or regional dailies, the government got them published in unknown newspapers.

Other members from the opposition benches said that government should explain the criteria regarding release of advertisements to the newspapers.

They said the posts for Abbottabad, Peshawar, Charsadda and Swat districts, were advertised in two small newspapers published from Dera Ismail Khan.

The information minister said the government released advertisements to various national and regional dailies on merit in accordance with its policy. The minister, however, could not satisfy the house about the placement of the advertisements in district-level newspapers.

The speaker said the department concerned should place such advertisements in national dailies.

MPA Dr Zakirullah Khan said the department of public health engineering had installed tube wells and a water supply scheme in Adezai trehsil of Lower Dir district in 1996, spending Rs3.4 million on the project, but the scheme had not been made operational. He demanded an inquiry into the project.

The minister claimed that the scheme had been made operational.