A project titled “renovation of the CDA headquarters building in Sector G-7/4”, aimed to improve the management efficiency and to accommodate its staff in a better way was approved by the authority in July 2005.
The project was supposed to be completed within 12 months, but due to the inefficiency of the city managers and dawdling of contractors, work on the project could not be completed, according to a fact-finding team report, available with The Express Tribune.
Due to the delay, the estimated project cost has skyrocketed from Rs23.422 million to Rs490.694 million under the second revised estimate in 2013.
According to the report, Rs389.988 million has been released to the contractors and 92 per cent of work has been completed.
In January 2007, the CDA-DWP revised the original cost to Rs154.258 with the inclusion of Block-II, III and IV of the building for renovation.
Work on the project started in 2006 and renovation of Block-II and III was awarded to Design Dynamics for Rs120.997 million, while work on Block-IV was awarded to Pelican Engineers for Rs36.106 million.
Both firms were supposed to complete the work within 12-months, however, Design Dynamics completed only 30 per cent of the work despite being granted an additional six months after the contract time expired, while Pelican Engineers completed the work within the stipulated time.
The Design Dynamics contract was terminated by the authority due to its poor performance and the leftover work was awarded to Pelican Engineers. This time, the latter firm was unable to meet the deadline till 2013 and the project cost was re-revised in 2013.
Meanwhile, a special audit was also ordered in 2013.
The audit team found massive mismanagement in execution of the project with an observation that competent forums failed to even discuss the revised costs. The audit team’s report also included a section related to recoveries from the contractors.
The FIA also conducted an inquiry into the project, but a source claimed that the issue was ‘managed’ by the CDA officers and the contractor firms.
The fact-finding report also says that after the contract termination, Design Dynamics moved the court and the authority took nearly one-and-a-half-year to vacate the stay order. The report also states that a one-year delay was also caused by scrutiny of the project by a judicial committee in 2011.
According to the report, the incumbent CDA management was also putting unnecessary hurdles in approving the requisite funds for the project. Meanwhile, the second revised PC-I presented before the CDA-DWP meeting on May 20, 2014, still awaits approval.
According to the report, a mature liability of Rs79.43 million of the contractor was also pending with the CDA.
The report says that the remaining eight per cent of work should be completed within the next four months.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 23rd, 2014.
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