KARACHI, Dec 4: The Defence Housing Authority is set to launch a Rs700 million project to repair roads damaged during the installation of a new drainage system, according to the DHA administrator.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, DHA administrator Brig Khalid Tirmizi said that the joint venture – being funded by the Cantonment Board Clifton, with the DHA providing technical support and carrying out monitoring and supervision – would begin on Dec 15.

The project is scheduled to be completed within six months.

Brig Tirmizi asserted that a drainage system which should normally have taken three years to install had been completed within six months, at a cost of Rs2.2 billion. He added that the cost of the project ran over original budgets due to the speed at which work had been done. Brig Tirmizi assured those present at the press conference that quality had not been compromised on.

In reply to a question regarding the collapse of a large number of concrete slabs which cover the drains, he said that he had received such complaints and that as the damage was within the warranty period, the contractor would be replacing the slabs.

Responding to a question as to why the CBC was paying the major chunk of the Rs700 million road rehabilitation project, as the roads had been damaged during the installation of the DHA drainage system, Brig Tirmizi said the CBC was a sister organisation of the DHA. He added that he was president of the CBC as well and that as the DHA had faced a shortage of funds and made a request the CBC had agreed to pay.

Brig Tirmizi, who assumed office on Sept 6, said that the Creek Vista apartments, which comprise 12 seventeen storey buildings and have over 720 apartments, are now almost ready, and owners would be handed over possession of the apartments between December 2008 and April 2009. The Creek Vista apartments have been constructed over 16 acres, and have a total covered area of over three million feet.

Brig Tirmizi said that the Sunday Bachat Bazaar, currently being held in DHA Phase VIII, was to be relocated at a cost of Rs55 million. He said the market would be held twice weekly, on Sundays and Wednesdays, at the new location within a couple of months.

He announced that the DHA had specified over 25 locations where citizens might carry out sacrifices during Eid-ul-Azha. He said people would bring their animals to specified locations, sacrifice them, and then take way the meat. He said the step was being taken in order to keep the area clean.

Brig Tirmizi clarified that while the system was voluntary this year, soon it would be ensured that sacrifices were only carried out at designated locations. He also made it clear that the DHA would not be providing butchers.

In reply to a question regarding the shutdown of the DHA’s power generation plant, DHA secretary Lt Col (retd) Najam-ul-Islam Rishi, who was assisting Brig Tirmizi, said that the plant was state of the art, and generally faults tended to develop after a long time. Rishi termed the relatively short time period for a fault to develop ‘lucky’, saying that as the plant was still under warranty, replacement parts (including the shaft) had been imported from Germany and would soon be installed. He said the plant should be operational within a couple of months.

DHA project director Brig (retd) Iftikhar Haider, Zeenat Ahmed of the CBC and residents’ representatives were also present at the press conference.