MUZAFFARABAD: The Earthquake Reconstruction Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) and the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) closed down contracts of construction companies of the King Abdullah University in Chatter Klass area here and the District Headquarters Complex in Rawalakot.
The contracts closed down due to using delaying tactics in construction and using of sub-standard construction material. The various construction projects had been launched in earthquake-hit areas of Azad Jammu Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) with the financial assistance of the Saudi Fund in 2011. The deadline for the completion of these projects was 2014 but these companies failed to do accordingly.
Korean construction company Sambo was given tender for the construction of the main campus of the King Abdullah University and the Habib Rafiq Company was constructing the District Complex besides King Abdullah Teaching Hospital in Mansehra area of Hazara Division of Pakhtunkhwa.
Both the companies failed to complete the projects within the time frame which created havoc among the masses. The delegation led by Saudi Fund’s chief engineer Abdullah Shaibi while visiting the project sites took serious notice of delaying work and using substandard construction material and expressed their reservations and decided to close down the contracts of these companies with the consultation of ERRA. The ERRA has started work on re-tendering and the contract would now be given to those contractors who would be able to complete the said projects in one year period sources added.
