PESHAWAR, May 1: The National Highway Authority (NHA) has invited proposals for Rs536.28 million projects to be executed in the NWFP in 2005-6. “The NHA will encourage proposals for making the planned and ongoing projects more beneficial”, said General Manager, NWFP, Yousaf Ali.

He urged the stake holders and highways users to send proposals so that effective channels of communication could be developed.

He said realizing government’s financial constraints and in furtherance of the policy announced by the government, the NHA was seeking private sector participation to augment state resources for the implementation of the road projects though the BOT mechanism.

The NHA GM said one of the projects being executed through the concept was the ongoing project of Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway (M-1), which was expected to be completed in January 2007.

He added the project had an immense importance to cement trade ties with the Central Asian States.

He said the NHA (Frontier) had planned Routine Maintenance Works (RMW) on N-55 (D. I. Khan), which would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs.14.9 million, work on N-55 (Karak) at Rs.15.60million, N-5 (Peshawar) at Rs17.26million and N-45 (Nowshera-Batkhela-Dir-Chitral) at Rs19 million.

Mr Yousaf said the authority had planned Periodic Maintenance Works (PMW) for N-5&55 (D. I. Khan, Karak, Peshawar) and N-45 Malakand (Batkhela) and allocated Rs.444.52 million for the works.

Giving details of the N-55, he said under the PMW, 74km road in the D. I. Khan area would be completed at a cost of Rs190 million, 71km in the Karak area (Rs60.443million) and 53.45 and 93 kilometres road on the N-5 and N-55 in the Peshawar area costing Rs83 million.