Nowshera’s ‘substandard’ road built at ‘double the price’, reveals German envoy

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AZAKHEL BALA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government built a second-rate road in Nowshera district which cost more than double the price it should have cost, German ambassador to Pakistan Martin Kobler revealed on Wednesday.

“Look at this road at Azakhel Bala built by the villagers, financed by Germany’s KfWpress,” the envoy stated on microblogging website Twitter.

“1 km build by villagers cost 4 million with a 12-inch layer. Same road built by @KPGovernment costs 10 million pkr with lower quality (6 inches). CAN YOU TELL ME WHY??,” he added.

KP GOVT RESPONDS:

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai said the government builds roads on international standards and pays the taxes as well.

He said that the road built by the community did not follow those standards nor was the tax paid on them.

He said that the provincial government awards contracts to contractors in compliance of procurement laws and the bidder with the most cost-effective plan is given the contract.

Earlier in November, KP Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) had fired 105 of its employees after receiving complaints about their blatant corrupt practices from senior officials.

The provincial anti-graft department had initiated action against its employees who were corrupt and were reportedly also influencing investigations and misusing their authority.

The investigations that took 10 months to complete were followed by firings, departmental inquiries and repatriation to their original departments.