RAWALPINDI: Metro Bus Project contractor for the portion of Parade Lane and Constitution Avenue wants to pack up and defer construction till the area is cleared of the sit-in participants.

The contractor, Lemac-Reliable, Turkish and Pakistani joint venture, has in this regard sent a request to Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), the executing agency of the project.

Work on Metro Bus Project from Parade Lane to Pakistan Secretariat had been lying stopped for the last two months due to anti-government sit-ins by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT)outside the Parliament House.

A senior official of the RDA told Dawn that the construction company wanted to shift the machinery and workforce to its other projects in Lahore and other parts of the country.

Contractor wants to defer construction until area is cleared of protesters

However, he said that if it was allowed to lift the machinery from the construction site, the work would further delay for more than three months.

Besides, once the contractor moved the machinery it would charge for bringing it back, which will further increase the cost of the project, he said.

He said the construction company had won contracts of two portions of metro bus project one in Rawalpindi and the other in Islamabad.

“It has to construct the road, underpass for metro bus service in Rawalpindi from 6th Road to Faizabad and from Shaheed-i-Millat Road to Constitution Avenue in Islamabad,” he said.

Despite offering a little higher bid, the company was given the contract. The official cost of the bid was Rs2.312 billion but Lemac-Reliable gave Rs2.314 billion, a little 0.07 percent higher.

However, the relevant official finds nothing wrong with awarding the contract.

When contacted, Commissioner Rawalpindi and Metro Project Director Zahid Saeed confirmed he had received the request from the company.

He said that the contractor had been asked to wait for a few days as the RDA would hold meeting with Islamabad administration on Saturday to seek permission for resuming the work on Parade Lane portion of metro bus project.

He ruled out the possibility of allowing the contractor to pack up and move machinery.

“It will not only increase the charges but also delay the project,” he said.

Replying to a question, he said that the government would have to pay compensation for the losses the contractor suffered because of ‘political shows’ outside the Parliament House as their machinery and workforce remained idle for two months and it was not their fault.

Commissioner Zahid Saeed admitted that the construction work on metro bus project would not be completed within the stipulated time frame given by the Punjab government. “We will speed up the work on the project once the contractor got safe working environment in the area,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2014