Money stuck: Malir flyover to face more delays as govt fails to release funds

As second quarter of financial year ends, project awaits money from first quarter.

KARACHI:

The under-construction flyovers at Malir 15 and Malir Halt for almost nine months now will face further delays as the Sindh government has failed to release money for work, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The construction on both the flyovers was stopped 10 days ago as the funds scheduled for the months of July and August have yet to be released, said an official of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC).

"The piling work and basements of both the flyovers have already been completed," said the officer. "The support structure of these projects will take another two or three months if the money is released immediately," he estimated.

"For the sake of everyday commuters, we continued our work until the money was so short that we had to abandon further construction," he admitted. Once complete, these flyovers will help reduce traffic congestion on the city's main artery that connects the rest of the city to the industrial areas.



According to KMC's works and services director Niaz Ahmed Soomro, the government released Rs260 million for the flyovers last year. "Now, the second quarter is about to end and we have yet to receive the funds from the first quarter," he said. Soomro said the government will have to release at least Rs50 million for each project to make sure it is completed on time.

"The Malir 15 flyover is a billion-rupee project and they [government] released only Rs260 million," said Soomro. "The Malir Halt project is worth Rs530 million and they have so far released only 30 per cent of the full funding."

Initially, the encroachments around the construction site were posing a threat to the completion of the project. "But with the consensus of all stakeholders, we resolved all the issues," said Soomro, adding that funds are their main concern now. "If the government releases the allocated funds immediately, the bridge could be completed by the end of January," he said.

The KMC's works and services department has written several letters to the Sindh chief minister but to no avail. "Everyone knows this is the main thoroughfare in the city and has been witnessing the worst traffic jams since construction began earlier this year," he said.

Meanwhile, the commissioner hopes that the funds will be released in a month or so. "We have forwarded the request to the chief minister and the local bodies minister to release the funds as soon as possible," said Commissioner Shoaib Siddiqui.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2014.