ISLAMABAD, Oct 25: President General Pervez Musharraf on Monday assigned to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) and Military Engineering Services (MES) over Rs1 billion repair work of Sukkur Barrage without involving a bidding process to avoid unnecessary delays.

A senior government official told Dawn that the major repair work of the barrage would be completed by FWO while MES would provide consultancy services to the former.

The decision has been made on the request of Water and Power Minister Liaqat Ali Jatoi who had been informed by the Sindh government that it had no expertise to undertake the barrage repair work.

The FWO would immediately start mobilization of machinery and equipment to the project site to initiate preliminary work while detailed rehabilitation work would start in January 2005, to be completed by April 2005.

Some major cracks had appeared in the main structure of the barrage last year and it was feared that a medium to high flood could completely destroy the structure.

That could entail huge monetary and irrigation water losses, resulting in a drop in agricultural output.

An official statement said President General Pervez Musharraf "has tasked the corps of engineers" of Pakistan Army to immediately assist the Sindh government in the repair of structural damage caused to Sukkur Barrage.

The president issued the directive in a meeting he presided on Monday, which reviewed the extent of damage the Sukkur barrage has experienced over the last several years.

At the request of the Sindh government, he directed that immediate mobilization of army engineers should take place so that repair work commences at the earliest and completed before the advent of next monsoon season when water flow increases manifold.

The Sukkur Barrage is a structure of vital national importance with regard to the provision of potable and irrigation water to Sindh, the president said.

Water and Power Minister Liaqat Ali Jatoi, Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, provincial minister Nadir Akmal Leghari, Chief Engineer Pakistan Army, Lt-Gen Muhammad Zubair and senior officials of federal departments concerned attended the meeting.