Unpaid PIDA officials boycott offices
These BS-17 and 18 officials were recruited in January 2010 to work on the Lower Bari Duab Canal improvement project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). They work at the project’s regional offices in Sahiwal, Okara and Khanewal, where the canal operates.
They locked up the regional offices and gathered at the project office in Lahore on Wednesday to discuss their grievances and later stage a protest in front of the Lahore Press Club, said Rana Umair, a liaison officer. He claimed that the canal project was in trouble because of the incompetence and corruption of senior PIDA officials.
The protestors demanded the removal of the transition general manager, Syed Zahid Ali Shah. They said that Shah, during his visit to the Sahiwal office on Tuesday, misbehaved with female staffers when they asked him about their salaries, which have not been paid since June 2010. Talking to The Express Tribune, Shah denied misbehaving with the female staff, saying there had been a misunderstanding. He admitted that salaries had been unpaid since June, but this was because a technical fault had prevented the Finance Department from handing out the salaries. He said that the fault had been removed and the salaries would be transferred in two to three days.
The protestors included 15 female officers. They said that Shah, when asked about the unpaid salaries, had used abusive language and threatened them for complaining. Umair said they would continue their protest until Zahid Shah is removed from his post.
The ADB provided Rs80 million for the two-year project, which aims to repair the LBD canal and increase its capacity.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 23rd, 2010.
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