Financial Tribune - While many road construction projects are on hold waiting for free asphalt (bitumen) from the government, a great deal of tar produced inside the country is exported, the people�s representative from Falavarjan County (Isfahan) in the Majlis said.

�Reports say we need 4 million tons of asphalt a year for domestic use and exporting this item does not help or solve problems,� Fars News Agency quoted Nasser Mousavi Largani as saying.

According to the budget for the current fiscal dyear, the government is obliged to allocate $500 million in tar to road-building projects.