Centre clears key KP terminal link, resolves wheat supply issue

PESHAWAR: The federal government has accepted two key demands raised by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, clearing the way for the Peshawar Bus Terminal to become operational and addressing a wheat supply issue involving the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO).

The progress followed a recent meeting between Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi and Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, where the chief minister took up both the transport matter and concerns over wheat supplies.

Provincial Finance Adviser Muzammil Aslam said the newly built bus terminal had already been completed, but could not begin functioning because the National Highway Authority had not issued the required no-objection certificate for a link road connecting the facility to Grand Trunk Road. He said the NHA has now issued the approval after the chief minister intervened, allowing work to move ahead on linking the terminal with the national highway network.

Aslam also said the chief minister is expected to inaugurate the project soon. The federal government’s acceptance of the two demands has also resolved a longstanding issue related to wheat supply to the province from PASSCO.