Over 60pc uplift funds unutilised

RAWALPINDI, April 16: With just two-and-a-half months remaining in the current financial year; civic agencies in the city have utilised less than 40 per cent of the development funds while over 60 per cent of the schemes remain incomplete. According to official figures, a total of 1,819 schemes were initiated in the financial year 2010-11, out of which 695 have been completed while the rest remain unfinished. The estimated cost of the 1,819 projects notified by MNAs and MPAs concerned was Rs17,080 million; however, due to the financial crunch the provincial government released only Rs4,680 million. But even out of that money; Rs2,878 million remained unutilised. According to rules, if a department fails to utilise the budget released to it during a fiscal year, the amount is returned to the provincial government to be adjusted in the next financial year. Though DCO Rawalpindi Saqib Zafar has directed the departments to utilise the funds by June and complete the projects, it seems not possible for the executing agencies to finish the 1,124 projects when they have managed to complete only 695 projects in 10 months. "It is quite a challenging task to complete the projects at a time when we are left with only two months. We will try our best to utilise the funds," District Officer Finance and Planning Wiqar Shah told Dawn on Saturday. Interestingly, the funds that have not so far been utilised include the financial grants given to six MNAs and 14 MPAs in the district. The annual grant for each MPA is Rs29 million while that for an MNA is Rs22 million. To a question, the official said several projects proposed in 2007-08 were also lying incomplete. The official held contractors responsible for the delay in completion of the projects, adding they would be penalised if they did not complete the projects on a priority basis. However, Chairman Government Contractors Association, Rawalpindi, Chaudhry Abdul Hafeez said the projects faced delay because the contractors were not paid their arrears. "I am surprised to know that the Punjab government has released Rs4,680 million to Rawalpindi during the current financial year but the finance department did not pay our bills citing shortage of funds," he said while talking to this reporter.PML-N lawmaker Hanif Abbasi while expressing concern over the number of incomplete projects said it was the duty of the executing agencies to make the contractors bound to complete the schemes on time. "As far as my constituency is concerned, the projects have almost entered the final stages. I keep in touch with both the contractors and government departments when a project is underway," the MNA said. Meanwhile, the re-carpeting of the city's busiest Benazir Bhutto Road that was supposed to be completed this year is yet to enter its takeoff stage. Though the government has released Rs90 million for the renovation of the seven-km-long road, the authorities have not even floated tenders for the project.