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| April 25, 2003 | Friday | Safar 22, 1424 |
Payment for RBOD project stopped
DADU, April 24: The National Bank, Dadu branch, here on Thursday stopped advance payment of Rs65 million to contractors of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) project following intervention by an army investigation team.
President Gen Pervez Musharraf had approved Rs20 billion for the RBOD project to drain out saline water from the area and the job was assigned to 12 contractors under the supervision of the Army Engineering Wing and the Sindh irrigation department.
The contractors had to start the work in different areas from Karampur village to Sann.
The SDO, Thul sub-division, Nazir Ahmad Mahar, who had taken over the charge as the executive engineer, RBOD, Sann division, issued cheques amounting to Rs110 million for advance payment to the contractors.
An amount of Rs45 million was drawn from the Allied Bank. The remaining amount was to be withdrawn from the National Bank for which cheques had also been issued.
On Thursday, the army team arrived at the National Bank and informed the manager that Nazir Ahmad had not been given the charge as the executive engineer, RBOD, Sann division, after Fawad Memon was transferred on March 28 and he had taken over the charge illegally.
The team directed the bank to stop the payment.Fawad Memon also arrived at the bank and gave them in writing that he had not left the charge as the executive engineer.
Meanwhile, a team of the National Accountability Bureau also initiated an inquiry into the payment made and the cheques issued to the contractors.
When contacted by this correspondent, an officer of the investigation team said work on the RBOD project was started under the supervision of the Army Engineering Wing but the executive engineer, RBOD, Nazeer Mahar, issued cheques without verification by the army team.
The manager, National Bank, Dadu branch, Nazir Ahmad Samejo, confirmed that he had received a letter to stop payment to the contractors and he was also asked by an army team and agencies to stop the payment.
RBOD chief engineer Mr Bashir said the federal government had released Rs154 million for the RBOD project and further Rs154 million would be released soon.
PROTEST: A large number of people, including NGO workers, teachers and students, staged a demonstration and observed a token hunger strike outside the press club here the other day.
They were protesting against the occupation of the land of the Ustad Bukhari Government Degree College, Dadu.
Speaking on the occasion, Citizens Action Committee chairman Javed Akhtar Ghaloo said some influential people had occupied the college’s farm land in connivance with the administrative officer of the district education department, Barkat Janwari.
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