October 23, 2003	Thursday	Sha’aban 26, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

RAWALPINDI, Oct 22: The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) has restarted work on its development projects after Lahore High Court dismissed a petition of contractors against the civic body.

The contractors had complained that they were being discriminated against by the RCB in the award of contracts. They had filed a petition in the court which stayed development works of the RCB until announcement of the final verdict.

The stay, however, was vacated and the contractors’ petition dismissed a few days ago. The RCB has now restarted work on construction of streets, roads, drains, nullahs and small bridges.

RCB Station Commander Brig Hamid Khalil on Wednesday visited the ongoing projects in Gawalmandi and Saddar areas and directed the officials to expedite the pace of works on the projects.

He stressed the need for keeping standard of work. “No lapse whatsoever will be tolerated in maintaining the standard,” he added.

Meanwhile, elected members of the RCB have objected to start of work on the projects. In their view, the RCB chief had no powers to give a go ahead for the projects.

“The mini-board has been disbanded by the court and the full board stands restored. Now the authority lies with the full board to approve or disapprove the projects and the brigadier has no power to restart work on his own,” they maintained.

It may be mentioned that a member of the elected board, Haji Ijaz, has filed a contempt petition against the RCB officials for what he said ignoring the full board in making decisions. The case is likely to be heard this week.