MARDAN, Feb 22: Work on Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway (M-1) may well start in April if an accord between the National Highway Authority (NHA) and the SKB, a private construction company, is reached.

The contract of Islamabad-Peshawar section of the Motorway, it may be recalled, was given to Bayindir company, a Turkish construction company, by the Nawaz Sharif government in 1997 and the work had started in July 2001, but differences over a petty issue between the officials of the NHA and Bayindir company took place due to which the authority did away with the contract with the Bayindir company.

Meanwhile, sub-contractors who worked with the Bayindir suffered as they lost what they invested for the construction while the daily wagers were also relieved by the contractors. The local people, in the meantime, damaged the construction work as they stole materials like steel rods, crushed stone pieces and even taking mud away from the embankments of the motorway.

An official of the authority told Dawn that talks between the authority and the SKB were under way as the NHA intended to give the contract worth about Rs16 billion while the SKB intended to achieve the work at Rs12 billion and, if the agreement was materialised, the work might start in the April.

However, the SKB was stressing that if the contract was given to it the company would complete the work on Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway in three stages. The first stage will be from Islamabad to River Indus, the second from River Indus to River Kabul and the last phase from River Kabul to Peshawar.

The company says it is a very huge construction and it is almost impossible to accomplish it in one go, therefore, it will complete it in three phases.

At present, the NHA is spending a significant amount over the security staff looking after the material lying near Rashakai village where the locals are constantly attempting to steal different things from the premises of the dumping area, therefore, it desires that the work starts as soon as possible.