Builders demand higher payments as costs rise

Threaten to stop ongoing projects, boycott tenders

LAHORE:

Constructors Association of Pakistan (CAP) Chairman Kamal Nasir Khan has urged the government to negotiate with the representatives of builders for evaluating the loss being inflicted on them due to an unprecedented rise in prices of construction material.

It posed a threat to all ongoing projects, which may shut down if suitable escalation in payments was not made, he said.

“We will stop work on all projects across Pakistan, if our demands are not met and contractors, especially the smaller ones, are not compensated properly,” said Khan at a press conference on Wednesday.

He claimed that 26,000 small contractors of C-5 and C-6 categories had already halted work on their ongoing projects, as they were neither in a position to borrow from the market, nor could spend from their own pockets.

“Only those who have completed 80-90% of their projects are carrying out work to complete them as they cannot back out at this later stage.”

He pointed out that projects worth Rs2,500 billion to Rs3,000 billion had been affected by the price hike. However, mega projects being carried out by Wapda or with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank had not been hit as donor agencies monitored those projects themselves and ensure payments.

Khan told the media that a meeting of the association’s members from all provinces was held where the contractors conveyed that they could not press ahead with their projects because of the spiralling prices.

“Not only work on the ongoing projects will be halted, but tenders for future contracts will also be boycotted and the entire burden will fall on the government,” warned the CAP chairman.

Khan emphasised that the construction sector was one of the biggest industries and the stoppage of work could result in huge unemployment.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2022.

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