ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) achieved a milestone in the development of Park Enclave, on Monday, as the bidding process to hire a contractor for the scheme has been finalised.

Out of the four firms that pre-qualified for the bidding, SKB Construction Limited decided to stay out of the process.

The technical bids, submitted by the remaining three bidders, were opened in the presence of relevant officials and the representatives of the prospective contractors.

An official of CDA’s engineering department said that after the calculation of the bids, the lowest tender came around Rs1.2 billion, filed by Chaudhry Abdul Latif and Sons.

Meanwhile, Maqbool Associates had filed for around Rs1.21 billion and Maaksons bid Rs1.22 billion.

In the next phase, the comparative statements of the bidders will be prepared by CDA’s engineering wing, which will be forwarded to the chairman of the civic body.

“Usually, the work orders are issues within two weeks,” said a senior official of the engineering wing, adding, “We hope that the work will start from mid-August and the 1,600 kanal-project would be ready within a year.”

Originally scheduled to be completed by December, last year, the Park Enclave project faced numerous hurdles, including a dearth of finances on CDA’s part to execute development works.

The civic body has proudly claimed the project to be the ‘jewel of Islamabad’.

There are around 700 large residential units and 40 commercial plots in the enclave. CDA is expecting to earn a total of Rs4 billion from the housing society.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd , 2014