Nowhere in sight: Malir 15 flyover still victim of delays

KMC officials claim contractor is responsible for delaying construction work on Malir 15 project

KARACHI: The much-awaited Malir 15 flyover will have to wait just a little more, courtesy of the insincerity of the contractors and developers and the apathy of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC).

The expected time of completion for the project was announced to be December 2014.

The end, however, is nowhere in sight as the project has seen a number of delays due to shortage of funds, encroachments on the site and land acquisition issues.

In December 2014, the Sindh government had released a sum of Rs200 million for the project.

The availability of funds, however, has failed to motivate the contractors who have kept the construction work at a bare minimum.

With the new deadline for the project announced for June 2015, officials believe it to be an unrealistic target unless the Sindh government, the city's commissioner and the KMC authorities take effective measures to speed up the construction work.

"What can we do if the construction company has no interest in finishing the project on time?" questioned a KMC official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

He claimed that the expected time of completion for the project was unrealistic as the contactor, 'Kainat Enterprises,' were working on another project in Upper Sindh at the same time.

"The contractors are more focused on the construction of the Jhirk-Mulla bridge," he said, adding that despite the order of the commissioner and other senior officials, they were not showing any signs of expediting the work.

The official said that the government had still not released Rs550 million allocated for the project.

"Recently, they released Rs200 million, but Rs550 million has yet to be released." The official explained that an alteration in the design of the flyover had raised the cost from Rs885 million to Rs996 million.

For his part, the KMC's technical services director-general Niaz Ahmed Soomro said that though the contractors were indeed busy with the Jhirk-Mulla bridge, they had also sped up the work on the Malir 15 flyover. He added that almost 70 per cent work on the flyover had been completed.

Soomro confirmed the increase in the cost of the flyover, explaining that the ramp had been extended to the Azeempura Link Road with an additional second lane on the bridge.

He did assure that the project will be completed by the next deadline. "The flyover will be built and functional by June," he said, adding that the Sindh government had already approved the summary for a further Rs550 million which would be released in the next few days.

In response to a question regarding the Shaheen Complex flyover and Mehran Hotel underpass, he said that the KMC did not have sufficient funds to start all these projects at the same time.

Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui also expressed displeasure over the slow pace of work.

"We have directed the KMC administrator to complete the construction of the flyover as soon as possible," he said. "The administration must blacklist these developers or contractors if they do not show interest in timely completion of the project."

The contractors at the site, however, refused to comment on the issue. They did say, however, that the work was going according to the schedule and the flyover will be completed within the stipulated time.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2015.