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Contractors Association Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has threatened to take to the streets if the government does not address their grievances.
Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, Syed Anwar Shah, the association’s senior vice president, said the provincial government had issued the contract for the construction of Bab-e-Peshawar flyover on Hayatabad-Jamrud Road to a company based in Lahore instead of a firm in the province.
“There is massive corruption in the project,” he said. “No mechanisms have been put in place to monitor ongoing construction work on the flyover.”
Shah added a 10-member delegation of the association had met Chief Minister Pervez Khattak in October. “We urged the CM to constitute a committee to put an end to corruption in the construction sector,” he said. However, little has been done to achieve these goals, he said.
According to Shah, the government was awarding contracts for major construction projects to new firms without inviting any tenders and bids.
“As the people of K-P, we deserve to work for its well-being,” he added. Shah maintained contractors have been generating revenue for the provincial exchequer through income and professional taxes.
Earlier in July, the CM had announced construction of the two-level Bab-e-Peshawar flyover would be completed within 120 days at the cost of Rs1.77 billion. The flyover at the confluence of Fata, Hayatabad, Karkhano Market, Industrial Estate and Regi Lalma Township seeks to remove traffic congestion and accelerate industrial, commercial and economic activities.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2015.
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