KOHAT, April 16: The National Highway Authority has refused to take over the Kohat tunnel from the Japanese construction firm, Taisei, due to absence of trained staff required for handling the gadgets installed at the tunnel, said Major Bangash, chief security officer and spokesman for the foreign company, on Wednesday.

Talking to Dawn, he said the project manager of Taisei had been requesting the NHA to take over the charge of the tunnel and open it for regular traffic but of no avail.

He said the project director of the Kohat tunnel, Pervez Gul, in several replies had taken the plea that the NHA could not take over the tunnel because it neither had resources nor staff to handle fire-fighting, generators and security of the project which had been completed in three years at a cost of over Rs5 billion.

Maj Bangash said President Pervez Musharraf was to inaugurate the tunnel on April 15 as decided last month at a meeting between the NHA and Taisei but when the president expressed his inability to open the project, the ceremony had been delayed indefinitely.

He also said that only a skeleton foreign staff was looking after the project, as others wanted to leave the country as soon as possible. He said the project had been completed three months ahead of its schedule which resulted in the saving of about Rs800 million.

He said delay in opening of tunnel was costing commuters dearly as they had to spend a large amount in fuel cost as well as their time in reaching their destination.

Sources in the NHA, however, said there were many issues that were still to be addressed, like settlement of compensation with the tribesmen belonging to Darra Adamkhel and award of the toll tax contract.

They said tenders for award of the contact were still to be floated and until then the NHA could not open the tunnel for traffic. These were the reasons why the NHA had refused to take charge of the project, they added.

CRIME INVESTIGATION: Kohat region Deputy Inspector-General of Police Ghulam Mohammad has said that investigation being a very sensitive job should be carried out from all angles of the crime so that quick dispensation of justice through courts could be ensured.