LAHORE, June 23: Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool on Monday rejected a plea by the Faisalabad Development Authority against the orders of the provincial ombudsman and asked the FDA to pay dues to the petitioner contractor.

The FDA had awarded construction contract to the M/s Friends Engineer Services. It paid two instalments, but refused to release the third trench as funds were not released by the National Housing Authority.

The company moved the ombudsman seeking release of blocked payment of Rs1.12 million along with 18 per cent interest. The ombudsman ordered the FDA director-general to clear the dues within three months and advised the aggrieved party to approach court for the recovery of interest payment.

The FDA, however, filed a review petition with ombudsman and the contractor went to court for implementation which upheld the orders of the ombudsman.

After failing to get any redressal from court, the FDA filed a representation before the governor who again upheld decision of court and ombudsman.