MANSEHRA: Contractors here on Saturday warned that they would boycott the tendering process for development projects if the government didn’t increase rates for construction in line with the current rate of inflation.

“Prices of the construction material have reached an all-time-high, but the government is tendering development projects at the rates fixed in 2022,” president of the Government Contractors Association in Torghar Sarwar Gul told reporters in the Judbah area of the district.

Accompanied by other association leaders, Mr Gul said the federal government had imposed several taxes on the construction industry and contractors in the new budget. He said the tendering for development projects should be stopped until construction rates were revised.

He said that the recession and shortage of funds for such development schemes and projects under various completion stages was another setback to contractors.

Demand appropriate increase in rates for construction

“Payments for the work we did are pending, while industrialists have halted issuing more materials and goods on credit,” he said.

General secretary of the association Zahir Shah said the last PTI government had introduced an online tendering system to do away with kickbacks and corruption, but that system had become the biggest source of corruption and irregularities.

He said heavy taxes had badly hit the construction industry, so the government should provide relief to it for the speedy completion of projects.

“Our licence renewal fee is very high compared to the one charged in other provinces, so authorities should reduce it immediately,” he said.

Mr Shah warned that if construction rates were not revised in line with high inflation rate, contractors would boycott the tendering process.

MAN DROWNS: An excavator operator was killed after floodwaters swept away the machine along with him in the Kandia River in Upper Kohistan district on Saturday.

However, his helper was rescued by divers.

“Our workers completed the rescue operation in around three hours,” Rescue 1122 district emergency officer Khaliqdad told reporters.

He identified the deceased as Zeeshan Amin and said the body was handed over to the family for burial.

Mr Khaliqdad said the helper, Mohammad Maqsood, was shifted to a nearby health centre for treatment of minor injuries.

He said the incident occurred when the excavator was on the way to the Kandia area to execute a road project.

HELD: The Battal police on Saturday arrested three drug peddlers and seized a large cache of heroin, charas and ice drug.

The arrests came during raids by a police team in Battal and adjoining areas.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2024