TEHRAN – Financial problems pressing the building of the much disputed Tehran-Shomal Freeway have been resolved and the work will resume late January next year, the project developer said.

With the beginning of one of the toughest parts of the project - the drilling operation on the 10-kilometer-long Talun Tunnel - on Jan. 30, 2007, development of the long-awaited Tehran-Shomal Freeway project will go ahead, the Persian service of ISNA quoted Mohammad Montazeri as saying on Tuesday.

The Management and Planning Organization has earmarked Rls.127,500 billion for the project implementation “but we have not received more than Rls.80 billion yet,” he complained.

Referring to the environmental concerns of the project Montazeri commented that, in their joint sessions representatives from the Department of the Environment and the Ministry of Roads and Transportation have reviewed the possible damages resulting from the project implementation.

Being 20 percent complete already, the project is expected to be finished in three years. Chinese contractors have undertaken to develop significant parts of the work.

Completion of the nation’s mega project, sometimes referred to as the national project, has faced long delays, however, when completed the current distance from the capital Tehran to the regions located on the shores of Caspian Sea would be significantly shortened.