PESHAWAR, May 10: A dispute between the Cantonment Board Peshawar (CBP) and the provincial Benevolent Fund has put the future of an under-construction educational institution in jeopardy.

The CBP authorities are not ready to allow the contractor to resume construction of the college building in cantonment area unless the Military Estate Officer (MEO) issues a No Objection Certificate.

The board authorities claimed the project had been undertaken by the Benevolent Fund without prior approval.

They said that MEO had given the land on lease to the provincial government for the construction of offices and rest houses, and that the site was not suitable for college or commercial activities.

Zafar Iqbal, an official of the CBP (Land Branch) said the Benevolent Fund authorities neither provided a building plan nor obtained NOC from the board.

He said the central authorities issued directives not to allow any construction on the site.

Benevolent Fund officials, on the other hand, claimed that the project was not meant for income generation, but for facilitating children of the low-paid government employees who could not afford admission to private or public sector institutions.

“Only the children of workers will suffer because of this petty issue,” said an official of the Benevolent Fund. “It is just a lame excuse, otherwise the MEO had not demanded NOC from other departments in the past.”

The Benevolent Fund allotted 10-kanal land opposite Cantonment Railway Station for the construction of a model college. The building plan also envisaged construction of shops outside.

An official concerned said the site was approachable from the cantonment area and the city, while the huge car parking facilities had been designed in the plan to avoid traffic jams.

The government awarded the Rs70 million contract to a private firm. Governor Syed Iftekhar Hussain Shah performed the ground-breaking ceremony in January.

Work on the project was suspended when the contractor had almost completed the flooring of the basement. The CBP issued notice to the contractor to halt construction work and demanded production of a building plan with NOC.

The board officials said the contractor had refused to produce the documents and continued construction on the site without complying with the notices issued by the board. The MEO issued firm instructions not allow any work on the site.