Mufti Mehmood Flyover: Govt suspends contract of construction company

Provincial government facilitated construction company in all regards, but the latter failed to accomplish its task

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has suspended the tender of the company responsible for constructing Mufti Mehmood Flyover, for failing to meet the project’s deadline.

Work on the flyover connecting Peshawar Central Prison with Bacha Khan Chowk began in June 2011 by Skyways, a construction company. However, pace on the project worth Rs1.8 billion has been slow. It still remains incomplete, even though several government-set deadlines have passed.

In a recent conversation with The Express Tribune, K-P Minister for Mineral Development Ziaullah Khan Afridi said the construction company’s contract was terminated and all machinery as well as a security deposit of Rs10 million has been seized.

He added the step was taken in accordance with legal procedures because the company failed to meet repeated deadlines, the most recent of which was August 31.

The provincial government facilitated the construction company in all regards, but the latter failed to accomplish its assigned task in the given time, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah Khan told The Express Tribune.

Inayatullah said a new tender for the project will be floated soon. He added the government was attempting to complete the invitation for bids by October 23, so work can resume on the flyover by the end of October and is completed by the end of the year.

The local government minister criticised the construction company for delaying the project and giving a bad impression of the K-P government.

Inayatullah explained a meeting of the department was held on Thursday to discuss other development schemes and ongoing projects. “At the meeting, it was decided since the contractors had failed to meet Mufti Mehmood Flyover’s deadline, action would be taken against them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2014.