RAWALPINDI, Oct 15: The Director-General of Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Mohammad Makeen Shahbaz has said that the Punjab Chief Minister, Mian Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif has assured provision of development funds for all projects in Rawalpindi.

Speaking to members of national and provincial assemblies of Pindi region and members of Chief Minister”s Coordination Committee on Tuesday he said all development projects costing billion of rupees were being monitored and they would not be allowed to be slowed down at any cost.

He said quality and time-frame of the projects would not be compromised and added contractors found guilty of carelessness and incompetence would be black-listed. He said RDA has started dialogue with the elected representatives to chalk out new development schemes.

He said housing scheme for low-income group and economic zone had entered final phase of planning. PC-1 of these two projects have been prepared and submitted to the provincial government for approval, he said.

He expressed the hope that the Punjab Chief Minister would present the “gift” of housing scheme to the people of Rawalpindi and economic zone to the business community during his upcoming visit to Rawalpindi. He praised experts of RDA for working day and night for the planning and designing of the two projects.

The RDA Director-General stated that the expansion and widening of airport road has entered the final phase and the pace of work has been accelerated with the start of three shifts.

Speaking on the occasion, members of provincial and national assemblies paid tributes to Makeen Shahbaz and stated that his role in the preparation of new projects and in the implementation of on-going projects would usher Rawalpindi in an era of development.

Among the legislators were Malik Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Hanif Abbasi, Haji Pervez Khan, Tahira Aurangzeb, Najma Hameed, Raja Hanif, Ziaullah Shah, Shahryar Riaz, and Sardar Nasim, now incharge of Chief Minister’s Development Committee.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif would lay the foundation stone of Elevated Expressway here on Thursday at Municipal Park Shamsabad formerly known as Nawaz Sharif Park.

The project would be executed by Rawalindi Development Authority (RDA). The Elevated Expressway would be built over Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road from Marir Chowk to Faizabad at an estimated cost of Rs22 billion.

The Leh Expressway Project inaugurated by former president Pervez Musharraf has been abandoned after Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) assumed the charge of Punjab government after February 18 general election.

The chief minister is expected to announce new uplift projects for the district as promised by him earlier.