Metro bus project: Costs add up due to sit-in delays

Completion date extends by one-month due to sit-ins

ISLAMABAD:

Several construction firms working on the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Project have submitted prolongation cost claims running into millions of rupees due to delays caused by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) sit-ins.

A prolongation cost is claimed by a construction firm on the basis of extended duration of work during which costs are incurred as a result of delay. It includes costs for machinery and labour which are paid for but unused during the delay period.

The government has also decided to extend the completion date of the project by one month — from December 28, 2014, to January 28, 2015.

The largest claims have been made by construction firms engaged on the Islamabad section of the metro bus project along the Jinnah Avenue, the area most affected by the two sit-ins at D-Chowk. Though the PTI’s sit-in continues, it has been decided to mobilise machinery and staff at the site.

“A separate committee representing the National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak), Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and contractor firms has been formed, which will not only settle the prolongation claims but also work out a strategy to complete the work on most-affected Package-V of the Islamabad-section of the project,” said Rawalpindi Commissioner Zahid Saeed, who chaired a meeting at the RDA office on Friday to review progress on the project.

Though Saeed did not give any details he said major claim has been made by a firm Remark-Reliable, which is working on Package-V where the work has virtually been suspended for the last 75 days due to the sit-ins.

He said the sit-in participants remained present on 1.4 kilomtres of the 2.4-kilometer-long Package-V on Jinnah Avenue.

He said 30 days of extensive construction work will make up for the delay. He said Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who had earlier ordered the authorities to complete the work by December 28, will be requested to extend the deadline to January 28.

The commissioner said that firms working on the project in Rawalpindi and package-I, II, III, and IV of Islamabad section have assured to finish the work by December 28.

However, the technical staff deputed at the site claimed that it would be next to impossible to complete the mega interchange at Peshawar Mor until January 30. “The underpass which will be constructed as part of interchange will likely be completed by the due date and will be opened for the metro,” said an official.

A news statement issued by the RDA said former MNAs Hanif Abbasi and Shakil Awan, RDA director general, PML-N MNA Tahira Aurangzeb, former MPA Ziaullah Shah, and other officials attended the meeting on Friday. They also discussed ways to expedite work on the project in the backdrop of sit-ins.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2014.