ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is all set to get development work started in the stalled I-12 sector from Wednesday (tomorrow).

Work will be carried out by a private contractor, said an official of the civic body.

According to a statement issued by the CDA, work in two sub-sectors of I-12 will formally start from June 1 while work in the remaining two sub-sectors will soon be started through a government contractor.

“We have awarded the contract of development of two sub-sectors to a private contractor against Rs542 million and the contractor will start work from Wednesday. Whereas for the remaining two sub-sectors, we are going to a hire a government firm to carry out work under section 42(f) of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules,” a CDA official said, adding that ground-breaking ceremony of the project will be held in I-12 before formal work commences.

There are over 6,000 residential plots in the sector and once developed, it will be a major contributor to affordable housing in Islamabad, the officials said, adding that the sector was launched decades ago however no serious attempt was made towards its development. Besides other challenges, the under-developed sector was used as a dumping site for many years.

In the past, the civic agency had awarded contracts for construction of major and service roads in this sector but both contracts could not be completed due to a number of controversies.

A few months ago, an official from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) lodged a first information report (FIR) against several CDA officials on the charge of having contributed towards irregularities in development work of service roads in I-12.

Earlier, in 2015, the CDA had awarded a contract worth RsRs248.4 million for the construction of major roads in the city which is also still not complete. Work on major roads could reportedly not be completed due to a dispute between the contractor and the civic agency.

CDA officials said a fresh survey was later conducted but around 20pc work on the construction of major roads was still incomplete. In 2020, the CDA approved a PC-1 worth Rs8.2 billion for development of the sector, including complete infrastructure development, electrical and mechanical works and provision of amenities and other services.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2022