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'Mera Ghar' contractors may claim damages for delay

JAVED MEHMOOD

ISLAMABAD: Contractors of 'Mera Ghar' scheme launched by the deposed government may demand compensation from the incumbent government for delaying the projects for more than 6 months, it was learnt.

The scheme was suspended by the military government soon after the dismissal of the Nawaz Sharif government.

Although the government had announced the resumption of scheme a few weeks back by reducing its to 18 projects, practically the work on the projects had yet not been initiated.

"The work on projects had been kept suspended for almost six months and during this period the contractors had to hire labour, machinery while the cost of cement, petrol and other items also escalated causing extra financial burden on the contractors", a contractor said.

Despite official announcement the Ministry of Housing and Works had neither arranged seed money for the scheme nor finalised payments to the contractors whose projects had been cancelled, he said.

He said the contractors involved in the housing projects are considering to submit compensation claims to the Ministry of Housing and Works in the next few days.

The Minister for Housing and Works Abbas Sarfraz Khan announced the resumption of 'Mera Ghar' Housing Scheme on March 10, 2000, by renaming it as Pakistan Housing Scheme.

The scheme was resumed on commercial basis and it was reduced to 18 projects that were deemed fit commercially by the Ministry of Housing and Works. It will cost Rs 4.169 billion and the said ministry had promised to arrange Rs one billion seed money for the projects.