LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Friday directed contractors working on mega projects in the provincial capital to provide a time frame for completion of their work.
Hearing suo motu cases pertaining to the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) and other mega-projects, such as the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT), that had been initiated in Punjab over the past five years, Justice Nisar told contractors working on OLMT to submit an affidavit detailing a time frame for completion of the project within three days.
“Lahoris have had to put up with great inconvenience due to the Orange Line project. Now they should not bear any more hardships,” the CJP said. “We won’t let any contractors disappear without completing projects.”
Justice Nisar also asked the Punjab secretary finance to clarify details regarding non-payment of dues to contractors.
The top judge advised the Punjab government’s counsel to consult the chief minister if necessary. “We must get these projects completed, come what may,” he asserted.
Earlier, two benches were constituted to hear the cases. The first bench comprised Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan while the other bench included Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Manzoor Malik and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
Punjab advocate general and health secretary appeared in the court for the PKLI case hearing.
Forensic Auditor Kokab Zuberi informed the court that PKLI was supposed to be completed at an estimated cost of Rs12.7 billion but the cost had gone up to Rs53 billion.
Zuberi also added that Rs20 billion had already been spent on the institute while the allocation of Rs33 billion had been advised for the current fiscal year. Moreover, Zuberi said that the present structure of the institute had also started leaking.
Over this, the CJP remarked that the approval for PKLI had also not been sought from the National Economic Council (NEC) executive committee.