15 January 2005	Saturday	04 Zilhaj 1425

HYDERABAD, Jan 14: Execution of water supply and drainage schemes under the governor's package remains in limbo even after release of Rs100 million by the Sindh government because a project director has not been appointed as yet.

Sources and contractors told this correspondent here on Friday that eight measurement books of already-executed works had also gone missing from the office of the public health engineering department.

According to District Nazim Dr Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman, a summary for appointment of the project director is lying with the Sindh chief minister. Last year, the chief minister released Rs100 million and authority of utilization of these funds was issued after two months by the Sindh accountant general.

The paper work of the package began when HDA floated 52 tenders for works, to be undertaken at a cost of Rs92.379 million, on Dec 27, 2002. In the second phase, 88 tenders for Rs154.928 million works were floated but then DCO Mukhtiar Aziz postponed opening of the tenders and also refused to become the project director.

Public health engineering department chief engineer Ashiq Hussain Yousfani was then appointed the project director but execution of the works kept delaying because he had not been given drawing and disbursing authority to utilize the funds and, subsequently, the funds of Rs241 million lapsed.

Hyderabad Development Authority sources said 42 works had been completed which had led to accumulation of liabilities of Rs21 million of contractors. The contractors have stopped work on the remaining schemes, demanding clearance of their dues.

They are now in an awkward position as they have been informed by officials of the public health engineering that their eight measurement books have gone missing. Rozi Khan and Kareem Shah said they and other contractors were running from pillar to post to get their dues released but to no avail.

They said the numbers of missing measurement books were 110, 1,135, 1,136, 1,190, 293, 294, 1,183 and 1,149 which had been sent from the HDA's office to the public health engineering department vide letters 3,696 and 3,637 on Aug 11, 2003.

The contractors approached the district nazim who told them that he had sent a summary to the Sindh government regarding appointment of the project director but no decision had been taken.

The nazim told this correspondent that the matter did not concern him, adding that he would have been happy to release the amount had it been within his authority.

He claimed that 60 to 90 per cent work had been completed on different schemes for which bills of contractors' payments had been released. He said only appointment of the project director was awaited. Contractors Rozi Khan and Kareem Shah said the cost of works would have to be revised because the government had announced a revised scheduled for the works.

REINSTATEMENT: Retrenched employees of the Sui Southern Gas Company from Sindh and Balochistan have appealed to the president to order their reinstatement in the light of orders of the federal services tribunal and the Supreme Court.