LANDI KOTAL, Oct 28: Leaders of different political parties in Khyber Agency on Sunday expressed displeasure over slow pace of work on the expansion and repair of Peshawar-Torkham road and demanded that the project be completed according to schedule.

Talking to media persons here at the press club, the Awami National Party`s local leader Shah Hussain, Jamaat-i-Islami Fata deputy general secretary Zar Noor, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf`s Abdur Raziq and Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl leader Shamsur Rehman said that the slow pace of repair work had been causing immense inconvenience to the passengers and transporters as covering the 30-kilometre distance from Peshawar to Landi Kotal took them three hours due to bad condition of the road.

They said that the Frontier Works Organisation, which was tasked by the National Highways Authority to complete the widening and repair of the 37-kilometer road up to Torkham border in 18 months, had so far completed only 25 per cent of theproject in 10 months following start of the project.

They said that the road builders had diverted all the heavy and light traffic to unpaved track mostly passing through dry water channels.

They said that the entire road was bumpy and full of dust due to heavy traffic, as the FWO never bothered to sprinkle water on the unpaved track. As a result, most of the commuters are suffering from throat and chest diseases.

They said that the transporters had been incurring heavy financial losses as there vehicles often developed mechanical faults after passing through this road full of potholes.

`There are a number of locations where bridges are needed to be built to keep the traffic flow in case of flooding in rainwater courses, but the authorities concerned are not ready to construct these bridges,` they said.

The political leaders demanded of the FWO officials to arrange a briefing for them so they could know about status of the project completion.