Lingering development : People point fingers as funds go nowhere

Govt officials and contractors blame each other for delay in completion of projects.

RAWALPINDI:

While the residents of Rawalpindi face a host of problems due to delay in development projects, the public representatives and executing agencies shift the blame on each other. To avoid public criticism, the politicos present numerous excuses for the delay in the completion of various ongoing development schemes, shifting the blame on the contractors.  The members of parliament and provincial assembly, belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), had earlier cited the flood as the main reason behind the financial crunch.

On the other hand, the contractors hold the provincial government responsible for the delay in the release of funds. They have staged protest demonstrations several times but to no avail.

The Punjab government has not paid bills worth Rs30 billion to contractors, because of which city projects have been halted. These payments are due since June 17, 2010. Development work reached a deadlock in Rawalpindi division, which consists of the districts of Jhelum, Chakwal, Attock and Rawalpindi.

The residents of the garrison city have been complaining that no considerable progress has been made by their political representatives for the last three years. They have repeated demands for the restoration of local government system as, in their view, it succeeded in developing the city.

Matloob Hussain, a resident of Committee Chowk, told The Express Tribune that not a single project of public importance had been completed since the local government system was abolished.

In his opinion, projects such as the construction of Leh Expressway, Tuberculosis Hospital, Judicial Complex, Cardiac Centre and the widening of Murree Road are glaring examples of the Punjab government’s negligence. “Even the renovation of the city’s link roads could not be completed in three years,” another resident of the area lamented.

But, the government revealed that the funds that have so far not been utilised included the financial grants given to six MNAs and 14 MPAs in the district. The annual grant for each MPA is Rs29 million while that for an MNA is Rs22 million. However, the same representatives now appear to be narrating a different tale, claiming that the provincial government released Rs4.680 billion during the current financial year, of which Rs2.88 billion (about 60 per cent) remained unutilised.

The Chairman of Government Contractors Association Rawalpindi, Chaudhry Abdul Hafeez claimed that the projects were delayed because the contractors were not paid their arrears on time. Imtiaz Rai, another contractor, claimed he had not been paid by the government for over three years. They feigned astonishment that the Punjab government had released Rs4.68 billion to Rawalpindi during the year while the Finance Department refused to pay their bills citing shortage of funds.

But it is a fact that with just two-and-a-half months remaining in the current financial year, civic agencies have utilised less than 40 per cent of the available development funds while over 60 per cent of the schemes remain incomplete.

According to official figures released by the District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zafar, a total of 1,819 schemes were initiated in the financial year 2010-11, out of which 695 were completed while the rest remain unfinished. The estimated cost of the projects notified by the MNAs and MPAs was put at Rs17.080 billion.

The DCO has directed departments to utilise the funds by June and complete the projects. However, it remains to be seen how the executing agencies will finish the remaining 1,124 projects in the time available when they have managed to complete only 695 projects in 10 months.

“It is quite a challenging task to complete the projects when we are left with only two months. We will try our best to utilise the funds,” pledged Executive District Officer Finance and Planning Wiqar Shah. According to him, several projects proposed in 2007-08 were also still incomplete. He held the contractors responsible for the delay.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th,  2011.