Torkhow and Mastuj roads: reconstruction, widening demanded

Pakistan People's Party Chitral leader and former bureaucrat Sultan Wazir Khan has demanded of the government to expeditiously complete reconstruction and widening of the Torkhow and Mastuj roads, which are lingering for the last many years. In a press statement issues here, Khan said that Booni-Buzund-Torkhow road and Booni-Mastuj-Shandur roads were the PSDP funded projects, costing Rs 1108.420 million (28 Km) and Rs 2323.914 million (70 Km) respectively.
He said that in the fiscal year of 2014-15, Rs 40 million were allocated for the Torkhow road and Rs 90 million for the Mastuj road, but not work was done during the year. He pointed out that the these two infrastructure projects, which are crucial for the residents of the upper areas of the remote district of the province, were left incomplete for the last many years despite incurring millions of rupees from the government kitty on these.
He deplored that the important road projects had been turned into a cruel story of plunder and day-light robbery of the government exchequer by the contractor-mafia of Chitral. "Not even a single contractor was ever seen in the work- site. Both the contracts were carried through sub-contractors. The sub-contractors were lacking the capacity to execute such contracts," he pointed out.
He said that though funds had been allocated by the government but the concerned departments were sitting idle. Pointing out to the gross negligence of the concerned departments, he said that paper works had not been completed as yet. He demanded of the government to order re-starting construction work on the road projects by completing all paper works and other formalities, as people were facing difficulties and problems due to pathetic condition of the roads.
He warned the government that if work on the pending projects were not initiated by February 10, 2016, the people of the areas would be left with no other option to use their constitutional right of taking to streets to lodge their protest, besides knocking the doors of the judiciary.-PR