Manhandling: Contractors protest against commissioner

Suspend work on projects in Abbottabad, threaten to expand the strike division-wide unless an FIR is registered.

ABBOTABAD:

Government contractors protested against Hazara Division’s Commissioner on Friday for his alleged mishandling of one of their colleagues.

The All Pakistan Contractors Association staged a protest in front of DCO office, suspending traffic on the Punj Pir Road for some time. They demanded the registration of an FIR against Comissioner Khalid Khan Umerzai and decided to suspend work on all projects in Abbottabad.

The speakers criticised the attitude of the commissioner, saying that the commissioner had misbehaved for the third time with a contractor or a government official. They threatened to stop working across Abbottabad District and eventually the entire Hazara Division if the police did not register a case against Umerzai.

Chaudhry Muhammad Iftikhar, in his written complaint with the District Police Officer (DPO) Abbottabad, said that he won the contract for the reconstruction of Peshawar High Court Abbottabad Bench building two years ago.

The Rs200 million-project was funded by Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) and is near completion. However, on Thursday afternoon, he received a call from ERRA Deputy Director Ehjaz Ansari who asked him to reach the commissioner’s office immediately to attend a meeting on ERRA’s projects.

In the meeting, Umerzai asked him to complete the remaining work within the next two days, Iftikhar said. He responded by saying that it was not technically possible and will take some time.

The commissioner started yelling at him, used abusive language and thrashed him. “The officer then called his guards who kicked me and hit me with their rifles,” Iftikhar said in his complaint. He also accused the commissioner for taking his sign on a blank paper at gunpoint. He was later freed on the request of ERRA’s local officer.

The commissioner was not available for comments despite repeated attempts.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2012.