LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government has decided to construct 69-kilometre long rural roads in Chief Minister Usman Buzdar’s home district at a cost of Rs832 million, deviating from the prime minister’s directions to shun “constituency-based development schemes”.

The DG Khan Highway Division executive engineer has issued a notice for the prequalification of contractors (firms) for the construction of 23km metalled road from Kharar Buzdar to Hingloon Katch (Peer Ghnun), besides two strips — 29.4km and 16.6km — from Surthok to Theekar via Gata Rekih.

The separate cost of three strips of the metaled roads has been quoted as Rs259 million, 340m and Rs233.77m.

The notice demands submission of tenders till Oct 20 and explains that the contractors having experience of handling Rs200 million and above road projects in the tribal area of DG Khan and Rajanpur districts would be considered for the job.

Sources say that Prime Minister Imran Khan had openly opposed in a meeting with the Punjab cabinet members the “constituency-based development schemes”, saying the PTI government would not focus on such ventures.

They say the PTI government advertised the DG Khan roads construction schemes’ tender despite the fact that it had neither given its maiden budget, nor announced the Annual Development Programme (ADP) so far.

Since the prime minister had barred discretionary grants, sources in the Punjab government wondered from where huge funds had been allocated for the road construction schemes.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2018