All Pakistan Contractors Association (Apca) Chairman Ahmad Ghazal Usmani has thanked President Pervaiz Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for accepting the demand of Apca and slashing custom duty on the import of bitumen from 15 percent to 5 percent.
In a statement issued here on Thursday, the Apca chairman said with this step of the government the shortage of bitumen would reduce and it would be possible for the contractors to complete the road projects of national importance at a faster pace.
Chairman Apca particularly thanked, Muhammad Shamim Siddiqui, Federal Minister for Communication, for his personal interest in the reduction of custom duty, which would quicken the pace of the development in the country.
Chairman Apca assured that the contractors of the country would mobilise themselves fully for completion of the projects on which work was almost stopped due to non-availability of bitumen.Ghazal Usmani hoped that government would also consider other demands of the contractors sympathetically and with the same spirit.