KOHAT, Aug 20: Local businessmen have demanded of the government to review the decision of NBP regional office shifting from Kohat to D. I. Khan.

The members of the Kohat Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mushtarika Markets Association, Islamic Business Forum and traders at a meeting held here on Monday asked the authorities concerned to stop the shifting of the office as it would cause problems for them.

They argued that the people from Dera Ismail Khan frequently visited Peshawar for official work in the banking tribunal, high court and secretariat. As they had to pass through Kohat, therefore the bank remained in their access. But the people of Kohat would have to go to Dera Ismail Khan only for bank dealings, they added.

The staff of the bank also suggested that instead of abandoning the NBP building, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 45 million, it should be used as regional office. They said the bank had no building in Dera Ismail Khan of the required capacity, and a new building would have to be built or rented for setting up the regional office there.