PESHAWAR, April 12: The Frontier Highway Authority has stopped work on the jail intersection project for unknown reasons, officials said. The project was aimed at easing traffic flow in front of district courts.

Sources in the FHA told Dawn on Saturday that Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani had some reservations on the project and directed the executing agency to stop work on the scheme. The provincial government had earmarked Rs67 million for the construction of intersection on the busy Sher Shah Suri Road.

“The chief minister and senior officials pointed out some technical flaws and directed the FHA managing director to suspend the spadework for awhile. The chief minister believes that intersection on this point is unnecessary,” FHA officials said.

A Karachi-based firm, A.A Consultants had designed structure of the proposed intersection about a year back before the contract was awarded to M/s Technicon.

Officials said that Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah had proposed the intersection to streamline traffic flow and told the FHA to take over the project.

The police closed the route for traffic last week and the contractor started work. A couple of days back, the chief minister visited the site and directed the FHA to abandon the project. The authority, officials said, would fill back the long ditch within a few days to open the road for traffic.

An official of M/s Technicon said the company had already spent 25 per cent of the cost on the mobilization work. He said if the government cancelled the contract then the company would claim the cost and added that the company had yet to receive a final response from the FHA.

Other sources said the City Development Municipal Department was running short of funds for its under-construction Suray Pul underpass project and this was the reason that the provincial government decided to divert funds from the intersection scheme to the underpass project.

The underpass being built near Bala Hisar Fort at a cost of Rs32 million is expected to be completed by the end of July, CDMD officials said.