Road construction: Don't pay to the contractor, say villagers

CHITRAL, Feb 15: We reconstructed the damaged portion of Chitral-Booni road near Zait on our own and now the government should not pay even a penny to the contractor who could not complete the work even after three years. The government should also hold an inquiry into the allegations of embezzlement of the funds already released for the project. This was stated by the residents of Kuragh and Charun villages while speaking at a press conference in Chitral on Friday. The residents said they launched the work on the road on a self-help basis after getting disappointed with the attitude of the government and the public representatives. Those who spoke at the press conference were Professor Saeedullah Jan, Syed Jawad Hassan Shah, Nizar Ali Khan Advocate and others. They said the hilly portion of the road connecting the upper and lower parts of the district had been washed away by river flood three years ago. The villagers said the youth of the two adjacent villages near the affected part of the road embarked upon the rehabilitation work and accomplished it just in 10 days during which 3,500 persons worked for eight hours daily. They said that the communication and works (C&W) department had awarded the contract of the 250 metres long damaged part of the road at a cost of 9.5 million rupees but the contractor never started the work at the site.–Zahiruddin]]>