Hassanabdal-mansehra highway : Postponement of toll plaza ordered

ISLAMABAD: Directives have been issued by the acting National Assembly Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi to the National Highway Authority (NHA) to postpone a toll tax plaza at Havelian till the construction of the Hazara Motorway and expansion of the present road. Abbasi gave the instructions to senior NHA finance officials, according to a press release on Wednesday. The speaker said the Hassanabdal-Mansehra Highway was in poor condition as over 30,000 vehicles use the busy road daily. Due to this heavy traffic, the two-hour journey is delayed for up to four hours, causing difficulties to commuters, he said, adding that traffic jams are routine on the Havelian-Abbotabad and Abbotabad-Mansehra sections. He stressed that there was no justification for a toll plaza at this stage given the dilapidated state of the road. Abbasi hails from the Hazara region and was elected from the NA-18 (Abbottabad-II) constituency.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2015.