SAHIWAL: Newly reinstated Metropolitan Corporation Mayor Asad Khan Baloch and District Council Chairman Chaudhry Zahid Iqbal have stopped payments to all contractors of various ongoing development projects.

Talking to the media on Friday, the mayor and chairman said after Oct 16, it was their prerogative to assign and release payments and other development funds and they would scrutinise all running development schemes on merit.

Both the mayor and chairman belong to the PML-N. In the previous local government election, the party had won the mayor and chairman district council slots in Sahiwal.

It is said that before local government restoration as a result of the Supreme Court order, all development schemes and their tenders/quotations were running through the orders of administrators, appointed by the Punjab government.

Malik Mansoor Nabi, director audit District Council, confirmed to Dawn that all payments through cheques under local government had been frozen after Oct 16.

It is learnt Zahid Iqbal also stopped Hafiz Khalid, the chief officer Tehsil Council, Chichawatni, and Shahzad Iqbal, the chief officer Tehsil Council, Sahiwal, from releasing payments to the contractors.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2021