New contract for stalled housing project sought

Cheema says contractor got PM to visit project site despite his reservations

ISLAMABAD:

Minister for Housing Tariq Bashir Cheema has sought a new contract for a stalled housing project meant for federal government employees in Sector G-13, Islamabad.

The minister told a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Housing and Construction that when the contract of Kashmir Avenue Apartments in G-13 was awarded, he had expressed serious reservations about the cheapest bid offered by the contractor.

He said that despite informing the prime minister to cancel the contract of the G-13 apartments project, the contractor surreptitiously got the PM to visit the project site.

Tariq Bashir Cheema told the meeting that after the contract was awarded, he informed the prime minister that after allotting the contract at such a cheap rate, the contractor will run away.

“At that time, the housing authority and the contractor gave a written guarantee, but then the same thing happened. I sought the approval of the prime minister to re-tender the contract but the contractor turned out to be so powerful that he got the prime minister to visit the project site without his knowledge and got the project approved. I will again raise this issue before the prime minister,” Cheema said adding that work on the project has been stalled after the cost escalation.

When the issue of construction of Kashmir Avenue Apartment in G-13 came up for discussion in the meeting, the housing minister expressed his displeasure against his own institution stating that the contract had been awarded at such a low rate that he was 100 per cent sure that the project would not be completed. Cheema said that the contractor had assured us that he would not increase the project cost later on.

The housing minister asked the ministry officials if rules allowed them to make an extra payment to the contractor in violation of PPRA rules.

Expressing his frustration, he said that this pampering cannot be done on public money. “This is a project of Rs12-13 billion. I have also asked the prime minister to allow this project to be scrapped and re-tendered,” he added. Housing authority officials said that the bidding has been done in accordance with the PPRA rules.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2022.