ISLAMABAD: Despite allocating more than Rs800 million and Rs500 million for development schemes, respectively, Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) and Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) have failed to launch any project in the current fiscal year.

A senior RCB official told Dawn that there were two reasons for the delay in launching development works: slow tax recovery and ongoing projects that were yet to be completed.

He said the cantonment board had not received funds from the federal government and relied on funds generated from property tax and fees levied on different services.

He said recovery of property tax was slow, which had affected the civic body’s performance.

The official the civic body had launched many projects last fiscal year which were yet to be completed.

The RCB is facing a shortfall of over Rs110 million in its target for revenue recovery until June 30, 2022, he said, adding that both boards had failed to achieve their targets for revenue recovery in the last fiscal year.

In the current fiscal year, Rs800 million have been allocated in the budget of the RCB for developmental works while Rs500 million were set aside as the developmental budget by the CCB.

Collectively, Rs1.3 billion were earmarked by both the boards for the completion of projects that are in progress.

The official said the RCB had started the tendering process for Rs700 million schemes.

He said the source of income of the CCB was limited while the RCB had bazaars and markets like Saddar and the Mall from where it received handsome revenues in terms of commercial property tax. “Ws have no such market or commercial area,” he added.

He said there was no direct funding from the federal government and the local representatives and CCB members had been asked to arrange grants from the federal government as PML-N was in power in Islamabad and majority of the CCB members were also elected on the PML-N tickets.

When contacted, CCB former vice president and PML-N leader Raja Irfan Imtiaz said no new scheme could be started in the cantonment in the last six months as an economic crisis had gripped the country. He said elected PML-N members had contacted the federal government and were assured that funds would be provided for projects in the cantonment areas soon.

He said work on new projects was likely to start next month so it could be completed before the end of the current fiscal year.

Published in Dawn, January 23th, 2023