Forensic Science Lab: Contractors to be fined Rs1m per day for delay
Contractor says delay down to technical issues, will protest heavy fine.
LAHORE:
The Punjab government is expected to fine the contractors Rs1 million a day for delays in the construction of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), which was due to be finished almost a year ago, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The contractors, a consortium of Al Imam Enterprises and HA Constructions, have already missed three deadlines for the completion of the project. After they missed the first in July 2010, they were given a three-month extension without penalty.
After the second deadline of October 2010 passed too, the contractors were given a five-month extension and a penalty of Rs10 million. The latest deadline, March 2011, has now passed too.
An official told The Express Tribune that a steering committee headed by Home Secretary Shahid Khan was holding regular meetings to review the work and consider what penalty should be imposed. The committee can suggest a maximum fine of Rs1 million per day under the contract agreement and would likely do so, the official said. He said the committee would make its recommendation to the chief minister, after which it was up to him what penalty to impose.
Nayyer Mehmood, a District Management Group officer in BS-20 who was appointed programme director for the project in June 2008, said the construction cost was fixed at Rs887 million and the government could not revise this estimate.
“The inflation and other cost escalations will have to be borne by the contractor,” he said.
Hamid Ashraf, CEO of HA Constructions, said the project was a real challenge. He said the delay was caused by a change in specifications, improvements in design and lack of space to install garbage disposal, sewerage and air conditioning plants. “We will protest if a heavy fine is imposed,” he said.
The project implementation unit is acquiring more land where the plants could be installed and this was another reason for the delay in construction and installation work, Ashraf added. He said the lab would be ready by May 31.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2011.
The Punjab government is expected to fine the contractors Rs1 million a day for delays in the construction of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), which was due to be finished almost a year ago, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The contractors, a consortium of Al Imam Enterprises and HA Constructions, have already missed three deadlines for the completion of the project. After they missed the first in July 2010, they were given a three-month extension without penalty.
After the second deadline of October 2010 passed too, the contractors were given a five-month extension and a penalty of Rs10 million. The latest deadline, March 2011, has now passed too.
An official told The Express Tribune that a steering committee headed by Home Secretary Shahid Khan was holding regular meetings to review the work and consider what penalty should be imposed. The committee can suggest a maximum fine of Rs1 million per day under the contract agreement and would likely do so, the official said. He said the committee would make its recommendation to the chief minister, after which it was up to him what penalty to impose.
Nayyer Mehmood, a District Management Group officer in BS-20 who was appointed programme director for the project in June 2008, said the construction cost was fixed at Rs887 million and the government could not revise this estimate.
“The inflation and other cost escalations will have to be borne by the contractor,” he said.
Hamid Ashraf, CEO of HA Constructions, said the project was a real challenge. He said the delay was caused by a change in specifications, improvements in design and lack of space to install garbage disposal, sewerage and air conditioning plants. “We will protest if a heavy fine is imposed,” he said.
The project implementation unit is acquiring more land where the plants could be installed and this was another reason for the delay in construction and installation work, Ashraf added. He said the lab would be ready by May 31.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 8th, 2011.