CHITRAL, Feb 2: Majority of the government contractors in Chitral have been operating illegally as they don't have proper documents and know-how required under the law, sources say.

The contractors have enlisted themselves using fake documents in which they have shown their capacities beyond what they actually have. “They have forged papers in which they have mentioned that they can work for both developing the human resource and building infrastructure,” disclose these sources.

Talking to Dawn , the sources said the departments of communication and works, irrigation, public health engineering and tehsil municipal administration execute different development works through the contractors who have been divided into four categories.

These sources say that despite all this, the contractors have managed to get themselves registered in the highest tier with the help of fake documents showing the capacities which they do not actually possess.

Giving some examples, the sources say, an A-class contractor is required to have the services of at least two engineers having degree from a recognised university and four diploma-holder associate engineers. But none of the contractors in Chitral district has such staff on his payroll.

They say the contractors can obtain the contracts of development works of different values irrespective of their capacities.

The classification of the contractors is done on the basis of their resources in terms of their technical staff, machinery, their financial status and other basic infrastructure. After the registration of contractors by the respective departments, they are also required to get a certificate from Pakistan Engineering Council to be able to receive official contracts for development works.

The sources say the contractor of the highest rank should be armed with construction machinery related to earthwork, mining, construction, quarry and plantation. They added that none of the local contractors possessed machinery like bulldozers, excavators, cranes, crawler cranes, backhoe loader, asphalt pavers and crushers.

They maintain that according to their knowledge most of the contractors have not a single tractor with blades. None of the contractors is said to have a proper office for the project management and his staff consists of a semi-literate munshi.

Sources say when the DCO inspected the site of a Rs48 million water channel project in upper Chitral upon public complaints last year, he had found that the technical in-charge of the site was a retired junior commissioned officer of Pakistan Army. The project has yet to see the light of the day despite an expenditure of Rs13 million.

Inordinate delay in the completion of the development works in Chitral is mainly due to the fact that the contractors don't have potential to work properly. The sources reveal that the contractors have strong affiliation with different political parties to safeguard their interests. “They have been able to impact the elections and then use the elected ones to their advantages.”