RAWALPINDI: Despite failure of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) to ensure completion of the metro bus project on time, the local administration has started making arrangements to launch the bus service.

A senior official told Dawn that the RDA – the executing agency of the project – had failed to implement the directives of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to finish the work by May 15. Even now more than 20 per cent of the work is pending.

He said work on Package-I, from Saddar to Committee Chowk, was slow as the contractor has yet to give final touches to Murree Road.

“The entrance of the city at Marrir Chowk was in deplorable state as road work was still not complete. The chief minister, on the other hand, was informed that the contractor had finished the work. The bridge over Leh Nullah is also incomplete,” he added.

The official said: “The RDA officials and engineers who were responsible for checking quality of work and implementation of the deadline failed to do their job. The CM had expressed displeasure over the quality of work.”

When contacted, Commissioner Zahid Saeed said the RDA and Nespak engineers checked the quality of material. However, he said the deadline was a different issue. There were several reasons behind the deadline being missed, he added.

Published in Dawn May 16th , 2015

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