KARACHI, Nov 11: Local tent makers have so far provided 4,810 tents to the Sindh government as against the target of 6,175 by November 11. This was disclosed by Sindh government representative Raisuddin Paracha, who had also signed an agreement with the tent makers on October 27 for the delivery of 60,000 tents by December 15.

He said the slow pace of delivery was discussed in a meeting held on Friday. It was presided over by Sindh chief secretary Fazlur Rahman and participated by relevant government officials.

Mr Paracha said the chief secretary was informed that only three tent makers had shown satisfactory performance, while five makers had adopted a dilly-dallying attitude in maintaining the flow of supply.

He said the chief secretary had directed the officials to take all possible measures to speed up the delivery as time was running out for quake victims in view of hovering snowfall in northern areas and Kashmir.

Mr Rahman was also informed that many tent makers were not meeting the specification approved by the textile ministry. “Problems like improper waterproofing of tents, weight of fabric and disparity in quality between sample and finished products still exist,” Mr Paracha said, adding that the government might take serious legal action against those tent makers who failed to meet the target as well as specification.

He said the government had also allowed some tent makers to clear the previous orders booked from private parties. However, the Sindh government has now decided not to release tents of old orders to the private parties till the manufacturers meet the government requirements on priority basis.