KHAR: Students of Government Postgraduate College, Khar, on Friday staged a protest demonstration against delay in construction of two new degree colleges in Bajaur Agency, which were approved about three years ago.

The students led by their union leaders came out of their college and blocked the main Khar-Timergara road for about two hours.

They chanted slogans againstthe Fata Secretariat and the political administration, saying they were delaying the construction of colleges.

A number of student leaders, including Asadullah Khan, Obaidur Rahman, Shah Faisal, Yasar Khan and Gauhar Khan, addressed the protesters.

They said that the two collegesinBarangandSalarzai tehsil had been approved by former governor Mehtab Ahmed Khan in Dec 2014, but construction work couldn`t be launched as yet.

They stated that the prolonged delayinconstruction of the colleges had disappointed the students of Barang and Salarzai areaswho had been f acing a lot of problems while coming to the postgraduate college in Khar.

They said that it had not only forced many students of remote areas to leave education, but had also caused burden on the postgraduate college.

The protesters said that there was no issue of funds and land for the coHeges.

However, they claimed that a row over commission betweentheofficialsof Fata Secretariat and local administration was the main hurdle to launch of the construction work. They said thatlocalpeoplehadoffered land for construction of the colleges while funds had also been released several months ago.

The protesters demanded establishment of colleges in Barang and Salarzai areas without further delay.

They slammed Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and lawmakers from the agency for not playing their role to start work on the colleges.

They feared thatfunds for the colleges would lapse if work was not initiated anytime soon.Correspondent