Hockey ground in Gilgit a decade overdue

Ground approved in 2004 hit snag in 2007, no work done since then

GILGIT: An international-standard artificial turf hockey ground, approved for Gilgit in 2004, remains incomplete despite the release of Rs21 million for the project during the initial three years.

According to insiders, work on the Rs35 million project started in 2007, but for unknown reasons, the contractor stopped after completing initial work.

“Work on the project is still suspended, though more than a decade has passed,” a source said on Wednesday.

In the meanwhile, federal investigation agency (FIA) received various complaints about alleged corruption in the project, which is being built in the Jutial area of Gilgit. As a result, FIA launched investigations but they never reached a conclusion, said another source.



“Nobody was nominated and nobody was arrested,” said the source, adding that the cost of the project jumped from Rs35 million in 2007 to Rs120 million in 2017 due to inflation.

According to officials, Chief Minister Hafeezur Rehman recently took notice of the stalled project and summoned Pakistan Sports Board DG Dr Akhtar Nawaz to his office in Islamabad.

“The DG briefed the chief minister about the project, mentioning the delay which was caused by the FIA’s unfinished inquiry,” said an official.

The DG reportedly told the chief minister that he was keen to have a ground of international standard in Gilgit, and that the inquiry caused the delay. He also requested the chief minister to help them resume work on the project.

According to an official statement, the chief minister regretted the prolonged delay and also lack of accountability against those behind the delay.

“The DG should ask the contractor what happened to the Rs21 million he had been paid,” the chief minister was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office on Wednesday.



According to the statement, Hafeezur Rehman asked the DG to present the FIA’s letter that is being cited as causing the delay.

The chief minister asked the DG to bring the relevant documents and designs of the project to Gilgit so the issue could be taken up with FIA officials on priority basis.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2017.