Alleged embezzlement: NHA starts probe into Rs500m road

MANSEHRA: The National Highway Authority (NHA) on Friday launched an inquiry to unearth the financial embezzlement in the construction of a main artery, linking Mansehra with the Abbottabad district.

The deputy commissioner Mansehra has ordered the NHA to carry out the inquiry into the Rs500 million Garhi Habibullah to Boi road after a group of locals met him and apprised him of the irregularities in its construction.

The MHA’s inquiry team led by its Inspector, Latif Anwar, visited the road and would submit a report to the deputy commissioner within the next four-day.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has earmarked Rs500 million for the construction of the Garhi Habibullah-Boi Road and an amount of Rs110 million was released to the contractor concerned with the start of work.

The group of locals, who met with the deputy commissioner, said that the contractor had used substandard material in the construction of the artery that links parts of both the Mansehra and Abbottabad districts with each other.

According to locals, the contractor also didn’t build boundary walls along landslide-prone areas and used substandard material.

The deputy commissioner assured the complainants that those involved in the embezzlement of the funds might be taken to justice under strict relevant laws.

Meanwhile, the Food Department has decided to award licenses to more traders to sell wheat flour at a subsidised price in Garhi Habibullah and its suburbs.

The district food controller, Uzma Shah, ordered the establishment of more points in view of the people’s demand in the area.