Work halted along Mid-Hill Highway as unpaid labourers abandon construction site

The government has protected the contractor by extending deadlines three times despite poor work performance, official says.

Construction of the Mid-Hill Highway, a national pride project, has come to a halt at its starting point in Panchthar district after workers abandoned the site due to unpaid wages. About 150 workers, who had been employed across a 51-kilometre stretch of the highway under three different contracts, stopped working two weeks ago after they did not receive their wages due for six months.