Chitral expressway: parties discuss protest shutdown

CHITRAL: Representatives of political parties here said the decision to observe a protest lockdown against shelving of Chakdara-Chitral expessway by the PTI government would be finalized at an all parties’ conference to be held in Dir on Aug 8.

The representatives attended a meeting of the Chakdara-Chitral expressway action committee with former district nazim Maghfirat Shah in the chair here.

The participants welcomed the invitation from Dir for attending the APC against the shelving of the mega project.

The meeting was attended by representatives of all political parties except the PTI.

After the meeting, the participants told reporters that they would soon decide about a protest lockdown to be held on Aug 14.

They expressed the hope that the APC would agree on a lockdown from Chakdara to Chitral which will make a huge impact.

If not, the political parties of Chitral would take a decision regarding the protest on their own.

They said the expressway project was vital for the development of six districts in the region and thr government would be forced to restore it at any cost.

The participants also criticized the government for its failure to repair the road from Peshawar to Chitral.

They said even the approved project of reconstruction of the portion of the road from Kalkatak to Chitral has been put in the back burner.

The meeting was attended by Muhammad Hakim Advocate and Qazi Faisal of the PPP, Muhammad Kausar Advocate of the PML-N, Molana Jamshed Ahmed of Jamaat-e-Islami, Molana Abdus Sami of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, M.I. Khan Sarhadi of the ANP, Niaz A. Niazi from the district bar association and others.–Muhkam Uddin Ayuni