Lapsed funds: RDA wants reauthorisation of Rs42b allocation
Tells Punjab govt it has to pay Metro Bus contractors
Workers paint pillars of Metro Bus track near Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi. PHOTO: INP
RAWALPINDI:
The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has asked the Punjab government to reauthorize Rs42 billion worth of funds which had lapsed in the past financial year.
The amount allocated to RDA in 2017-18 was not used, therefore at the end of the fiscal and the start of 2018-19 it had to be surrendered to the provincial government. Now the authority wants it back to make the payments it was sleeping over in the last year.
According to official documents seen by Daily Express, RDA has still not paid the dues of the contractors involved in the Metro Bus project.
It has also not used the allocation for preparing the feasibility reports for the Liaquat Bagh Chowk to Mureer Chowk signal free corridor and the Airport Link Road projects.
In a letter written to the Punjab government, RDA said it has still not paid the Metro Bus project contractors their Rs40.11 million dues because there had been a delay in revising the project from ECNEC.
Moreover, RDA stated, the Metro Bus project was transferred from RDA to the Punjab Metro Bus Authority creating an anomaly in ascertaining the competent authority to make the payment.
Similarly, the authority said, the Liaquat Bagh Chowk to Mareer Chowk signal-free corridor project’s feasibility study and detailed designing have also been delayed, leading to delay in payments worth Rs4.6 million to various contractors. While the delay in the construction work of the Airport Link Road has resulted stoppage in payments worth Rs10.9 million to contractors. RDA in its letter has urged the Punjab government to release the funds so that payments could be made.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2018.
The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has asked the Punjab government to reauthorize Rs42 billion worth of funds which had lapsed in the past financial year.
The amount allocated to RDA in 2017-18 was not used, therefore at the end of the fiscal and the start of 2018-19 it had to be surrendered to the provincial government. Now the authority wants it back to make the payments it was sleeping over in the last year.
According to official documents seen by Daily Express, RDA has still not paid the dues of the contractors involved in the Metro Bus project.
It has also not used the allocation for preparing the feasibility reports for the Liaquat Bagh Chowk to Mureer Chowk signal free corridor and the Airport Link Road projects.
In a letter written to the Punjab government, RDA said it has still not paid the Metro Bus project contractors their Rs40.11 million dues because there had been a delay in revising the project from ECNEC.
Moreover, RDA stated, the Metro Bus project was transferred from RDA to the Punjab Metro Bus Authority creating an anomaly in ascertaining the competent authority to make the payment.
Similarly, the authority said, the Liaquat Bagh Chowk to Mareer Chowk signal-free corridor project’s feasibility study and detailed designing have also been delayed, leading to delay in payments worth Rs4.6 million to various contractors. While the delay in the construction work of the Airport Link Road has resulted stoppage in payments worth Rs10.9 million to contractors. RDA in its letter has urged the Punjab government to release the funds so that payments could be made.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 25th, 2018.